Thomas Tuchel insists Timo Werner has no cause for frustration at Chelsea, dismissing claims the Blues striker could head back to Germany in the summer.
Werner has struck just two goals in his last 26 Chelsea appearances, with the £53million recruit struggling with his finishing.
But Chelsea boss Tuchel has told the 25-year-old to stop worrying and “focus on the process” of rediscovering his scoring touch.
When quizzed on whether there is any truth in rumours that Werner is unhappy in west London, Tuchel replied: “Stop reading! Read a book!
“There is no book on Timo, so read a book! For Timo, I think he has no reason now to be frustrated because he played an amazing match against Liverpool, maybe his best match since I arrived.
“Then he had a good match against Everton with a lot of chances to score, which he normally is clinical enough and strong enough.
“He did not score, okay, in a situation like this, this can affect his self-confidence of course, but what does it help?
“The clear advice from us is don’t focus on the result, focus on the process, get your decision-making right, get your technique right, take good decisions and the ball and the opponent’s goalkeeper will do the rest.
“And then it’s either in or it’s an amazing save.
“He can improve from there, but there is simply no time to reflect on what is going to happen in the summer and next year. There’s no time.
“In the moment I don’t see why he should be frustrated. We gave him a little time to breathe against Leeds.
“But right now, I don’t see why he should be too frustrated.
“And honestly, nobody here is blaming the strikers. This is a team effort to attack and defend, but we expect our guys to create more chances, to be more decisive because we expect the defenders to play on the highest level and so we also expect that of our strikers.
“And then maybe all the stuff you read will disappear.”
👀 Behind the goal!
THIS is why he has 19 clean sheets... Edou Mendy 🧤💪 How would you rate this save? pic.twitter.com/iR60nq1xkn— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 15, 2021
Chelsea will host Atletico Madrid in Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 second leg, holding a 1-0 advantage from the first clash.
Mason Mount and Jorginho will miss out through suspension, with Thiago Silva and Tammy Abraham still not quite ready to return after injury.
Kepa Arrizabalaga has been omitted from Spain’s latest squad, having slipped behind Edouard Mendy in Chelsea’s goalkeeping pecking order.
Tuchel revealed his sympathy for Kepa, but conceded the former Bilbao star can only keep pushing hard to break back into Chelsea’s starting XI.
“For him I’m pretty sure it’s a disappointment not to be selected right now,” said Tuchel.
“That is clear, but like I said before, he is super strong here, he is our player and it does not influence how we work with him, how we trust him and how we keep on going.
“This is also personal for him to be in the squad of Spain. Would it be easier if he played on a regular basis? Clearly, yes. But it’s not about this personal objective, it’s about Chelsea.
“And we have said it straight between our goalkeepers that Edou is the number one. So he’s a competitor for that and he just has to be ready and I can just say he is exactly doing this.
“He is 100 per cent reliable, a top guy, top goalkeeping, top performances in training, together with Willy Caballero and this is outstanding.
“Can we influence the decision of the Spanish national coach? No, we cannot.
“So all he can do is be focused and be ready and this is what he’s doing and it’s why I’m happy.”
