Following Timo Werner’s clear disappointment with not taking a scoring chance at the end of the win at Fulham at the weekend, Frank Lampard was asked in his Monday media conference about the German and what he as the head coach can do to help him rediscover his scoring touch.
The 24-year-old was able to end a two-month wait for a goal in the FA Cup the previous weekend but having come on as a substitute at Craven Cottage on Saturday, he could not add to that in the Premier League.Quizzed on whether it is purely down to confidence and what he can do to help the player find the form he knows is in there, Lampard had this to say:‘I can speak with him and I can manage him on the training pitch because that is where little periods like this always turn around. It is something I experienced a lot in my career and something that all players will experience in their careers in their own ways.‘When you are a top player like Timo has shown that he is, all eyes are on you and then it becomes magnified. The basics are the same and that is what my job is, to tell him that and work with him on it.’
Lampard moved on, when asked, to consider the danger of a high-profile arrival at a big club having difficulties at the start and whether that can then lead to a downward spiral.‘I don’t want to compare him [Werner] with anybody because if we narrowly compare him with some Chelsea signings I think it will be the wrong way, everybody’s story is different. Fernando Torres had difficult times here but came away winning the Champions League and being a pivotal player in that run to winning it, so I don’t think we should compare too much.‘All we need to do here at the moment, Timo and myself and his team-mates around him, is to create the best environment to get the best out of Timo, which means firstly himself working hard. When you see the chance he missed the other day, that is just about repetition on the training ground.‘Everyone will go through those patches whether you repeat it a thousand times or not, but when you are in that moment you must repeat and keep working, and then he also needs support and help around him and he needs to keep his head down and focus.
‘My job is to support around him and give him positivity and confidence. Timo Werner didn’t by chance score the amount of goals he has scored over the last few years. He has scored those goals because of his huge talent. It is a tough time here for him at the moment but it is a small period in what I believe will be a fantastic career for him going forward at Chelsea. I have no doubts over that and I hope people around me can also see it that way.’