Tuchel was annoyed that Callum Hudson-Odoi did not make the most of a mistake from Bruno Fernandes in the first half.
There have, of course, been key assists but that requires somebody else being in the middle to finish chances and on Sunday Chelsea had a number of players guilty of not taking their opportunities. He has not been the man for the big occasion and it is hard to imagine he ever will be. Werner’s seven goals in the Premier League for Chelsea since the start of last season have come against Southampton, Burnley, Sheffield United, Newcastle and West Ham United. Later on, Aaron Wan-Bisasaka, who conceded the penalty from which Jorginho equalised, made a good block to stop a Werner shot, but it’s hard to imagine a real predator giving the United defender any chance of getting in his way with the goal beckoning.Ĭhelsea’s supporters and Tuchel have stuck by Werner admirably and he can certainly continue to play a part, either from the substitutes’ bench or from the left flank, but through the middle he is just not reliable enough. He volleyed a yard or so wide and, frankly, nobody was surprised. The former RB Leipzig star never looked like scoring, even when the ball dropped invitingly for him inside the United penalty area during the second half with Chelsea a goal down. Werner was willing as ever against United, but we have been waiting for 18 months for the switch to finally be flicked in terms of his capacity to take chances and it might be time to accept that it just will not happen for the forward. With neither Lukaku nor Kai Havertz fit enough to start, Tuchel did not have too many options in terms of who to play up front but maybe this was categoric proof that a team that is reliant on Werner to be clinical is likely to end up disappointed. The home side missed five big chances to score, the last of which came just before the final whistle when Tuchel sunk to his knees, and gifted United their shock lead with a terrible mistake from Jorginho. The return from injury of Romelu Lukaku, who made a late appearance as a substitute against United, may solve Chelsea’s problem and it must be taken into account that he was not fit to start on Sunday nor against Burnley.īut Chelsea must show the type of killer instinct City and Liverpool displayed in sweeping aside a United team who were very much there for the taking at Stamford Bridge. Given the quality of Manchester City and Liverpool behind them, it would be wrong to say the biggest threat to Chelsea are themselves but their lead at the top of the table would undoubtedly be more comfortable had they not shot themselves in the foot.
Tuchel did not have too many concerns with the way Chelsea played against United, just as he was delighted with the performance in the draw with Burnley, but the German acknowledged it was another case of his team being their own worst enemies. The draw with Manchester United was the second successive home game in the league that Chelsea dominated and yet dropped two points, and it may have head coach Thomas Tuchel a little worried. Chelsea simply cannot afford to be this wasteful if they are to win the Premier League title this season and it might be time to accept that, for Timo Werner, the switch will never really flick.
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