Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said Timo Werner’s double in their 6-0 Premier League win over Southampton was a step in the right direction but that the German striker still has to adapt to the rough and tumble of English football.
Werner scored his first league goals in six months on Saturday, also hitting the woodwork three times.
“He took the chance … and could have scored more, but of course these are the kind of performances that strikers need and we need from the strikers. It’s a give and take,” Tuchel said in comments published on the club’s website on Monday.
“You sign up for Chelsea, you sign up for a top club, you have to live up to it and you have to accept the pressure that comes with it and you have to help yourself.”
Tuchel said there was nothing wrong with Werner’s attitude.
“His attitude has always been good but he still needs to learn to adapt through moments like this, because he used to play … for a transition team before, and sometimes we have a lot of ball possession,” he said.
“So he needs to adapt … to the physicality of the league. It’s still a process and the process is surely not finished, but it was a big step in the right direction.”
Chelsea take on Real Madrid in the return leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Madrid on Wednesday before facing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-finals.