Thomas Tuchel has admitted Timo Werner needs to break his scoring duck to restore his dented confidence with Chelsea.
Defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso rifled fine goals to show misfiring £53million striker Werner the way as Chelsea saw off Burnley 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues sealed just a third Premier League win in 10 matches, moved up to seventh in the table and handed new boss Tuchel his first win at the second time of asking.
RB Leipzig summer recruit Werner’s misery extended to a return of just one goal in 17 matches in all competitions however, leaving Tuchel again to defend the out-of-sorts 24-year-old.
“He’s totally into it, he gives everything, but every striker is sensitive and nothing helps them more than goals,” said Tuchel.
“If they miss goals for a certain amount of time it’s the same for all of them.
“So this is nothing special for Timo, it happens to every striker in the world.
“As long as he has the impact and tries everything, like he did today, we will support him.
“We also missed some chances to use him in counter-attacks, which is his strength to use him with his speed.
Not one, but TWO defenders among the goals today ⚽😶@CesarAzpi ⚽@marcosalonso03 ⚽#CHEBUR pic.twitter.com/dWMcU7QGY2 — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 31, 2021
“So we have to use him in the right way also. I think he was confident to play, but confidence is not something you can demand.
“Confidence is something that comes with good performances. As long as he lacks goals he won’t be at 100 per cent.
“But it’s okay, he just has to keep going until he may find a very easy goal, to bring out the last few per cent.”
Just as in Wednesday’s galling goalless draw with Wolves, where Tuchel’s Blues debut ended in a frustrating stalemate, here the Blues dominated from first to last.
Unlike in midweek however the Blues found a way to break down a stubborn opponent, with captain Azpilicueta lifting the pressure at the end of a niggly first-half.
Alonso toasted his first appearance since September with a fine late goal too, leaving Tuchel delighted to get off the mark on the win front.
“The performance itself for me was very complete, both defensively and offensively.
“But we did the work, with the three centre-backs and two sixes absolutely outstanding.
“The two guys on the sides did a lot of effort to support and the front three supported the defensive work too.
“Importantly we never lost patience, we controlled the game, created a lot of chances and were very good in the counter-pressing.
“So overall very happy that we got this well-deserved win.”
Burnley failed to muster a shot on target, with James Tarkowski’s added-time effort in fact their only strike at goal at all.
Despite the paltry attacking return, boss Sean Dyche was not about to start fretting as the Clarets’ run of three wins came to an end.
Asked if he was concerned by the lack of goal threat, Dyche said: “Well certainly not a concern when you come to a place like this. That sometimes happens.
“In the first-half up until the goal I was pretty happy.
“We didn’t make the most of our opportunities and that’s a frustration.
“But it showed the truth of the market we’re in, when you come to a team that can spend hundreds of millions of pounds, sometimes things like this can happen.”
