Thomas Tuchel says his Chelsea strikers should be taking heed of Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso after his defenders scored in the 2-0 victory over Burnley on Sunday.
The two defenders were on the score sheet as Tuchel picked up his first win as Chelsea boss. Tammy Abraham and Timo Werner started the game, while Pulisic and Kai Havertz came on, but it was the defenders that stole the headlines.
Werner and Havertz have been struggling to find the back of the net of late and Tuchel feels his defenders have sent a message to them as he identifies what his attackers have been struggling with.
‘It should be a signal to our guys up front that we needed two defensive players to score,’ said the Chelsea manager.
‘We lack, in this moment, precision in the last pass, we lack precision in the last touch, in the finishing. ‘We will work on this, absolutely, because we had a lot of touches in the box, a lot of half chances, a lot of deliveries.
‘But in the end I cannot care less than we scored with Azpi and Marcos and in the end had a deserved win.’
Werner was struggling for confidence against Burnley, offering very little and missing a very good opportunity in the first half of the game when he failed to make contact with the ball.
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‘We cannot expect that it changes from one minute to another and one day to the other,’ Tuchel said of Werner’s struggles.
‘He’s not the only striker in the world that’s very sensitive when he does not score and he misses the feeling of scoring, no talks, no hugs no warm words can make up for this feeling.
‘That’s why maybe we need a stupid goal, a deflection, a silly goal for him that opens up this last percentage. ‘As long as the guys work, are reliable in their positions and work rate for the team, then we will push them.’
‘We missed some chances to use him in counter-attacks which is his strength, we have to also improve that,’ Tuchel said. ‘At the same time, I think he was confident to play but that is not something you can demand.’
The blues climbed to seventh in the Premier League table with the dominant win over Burnley as they hunt down a place in the UEFA Champions League.
