TIMO NEEDS MORE TIME-0
Lampard backs misfiring striker Werner
FRANK Lampard insists he has no regrets about signing Timo Werner.
The £ 48m arrival from Red Bull Salzburg has had a quiet start to life at Chelsea.
The Bridge Boys are in the title race but could do with more goals from their leading striker.
But Lampard says he isn’t bothered about the relatively poor return from the German. He said: “I am not worried. “Every striker will want to be scoring goals – it’s what they ultimately get judged on – and that’s why Timo was a great acquisition for us because of the level of goals he scored in the last few years.
“He is a player that’s in a new league and we have to have time to settle but I think that’s not the whole story with Timo. He’s getting in positions regularly, he’s scaring teams and giving them a problem.”
Lampard is happy with Werner’s general level of play and believes the goals will start flowing if he keeps doing the same things.
He added: “At the moment it’s just not quite going in for him.
“The moment that changes because he keeps working hard, we’ll see goals from Timo Werner for sure.”
Tammy Abraham has been in better form after enduring a spell out of the side.
He bagged a double against West Ham and Lampard is expecting more from him now the floodgates have opened.
The Chelsea boss said: “You have to work for your goals and Tammy does that. I want him to be a handful and move, show energy and move the defenders around.
“We’ve had goals from all over the pitch, that’s great. We need people scoring regularly and Tammy getting two will help him.”
Impact
It’s not just Werner who is struggling a little to get used to life at Stamford Bridge.
Kai Havertz hasn’t had the kind of impact Lampard was hoping for either.
He arrived from Bayer Leverkusen with the reputation as one of Europe’s hottest young players.
But he has struggled to find his place in the Chelsea team.
The 21- year- old shone in the Bundesliga in the No10 role that Roberto Firmino plays for Liverpool. But he has rarely had the chance to start games there for the Londoners.
He has been played out wide or as more of a conventional midfielder which doesn’t play to his attacking strengths.
Top pundit Jamie Carragher believes Lampard isn’t sure what Havertz’s best position is yet.
He said: “He spent a lot of money on him so you’ve got to find a position for him in some ways.
“I think for Frank, he’s probably not quite sure himself.
“I still feel Chelsea, Frank, they’re waiting to see what type of player Havertz really is and where he fits into this Chelsea team, into the system Frank wants to play.”