Former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas gave his verdict on what to expect from Timo Werner and Kai Havertz next season.
Cesc Fabregas has predicted that Timo Werner and Kai Havertz will be ‘different players’ next season.
The German duo had mixed starts to their respective Chelsea careers last term upon arriving for a combined transfer fee of €133 million from the Bundesliga. They struggled to hit their usual standards. Thomas Tuchel’s mid-season appointment as manager, however, triggered some improvement.
Support key for Werner to overcome goal troubles
Fabregas feels Werner’s goal troubles last season were a mix of bad luck and low confidence, meaning he’ll need the support of the team to overcome them.
The former RB Leipzig star struggled to live up to his €53million price tag and scoring reputation last season, managing just six goals in the Premier League alone.
“As a midfielder who likes to make assists, I have played behind strikers before who are going through a bad time or suffering with their confidence,” Fabregas told the Telegraph on Werner.
“It’s a bit of both that it can be frustrating that they miss chances, but I would also be thinking at some time Werner will score.
“The most important thing is that he keeps making the runs, that his timing is good, that he’s not offside and with his speed he will always get chances.
“Players like Werner are so valuable nowadays because players want the ball at their feet a lot and, as a midfielder, you would like this type of player to run on to your passes.
“Football is so much about confidence and what’s in your head and especially strikers who depend so much on scoring or not scoring. If they miss, it’s when you need to support them the most.”
Havertz can build on strong finish to last season
The 21-year-old scored the winning goal in Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League final last month.
Havertz struggled to get going upon arriving from Bayer Leverkusen last September, but Fabregas believes the German can build on his strong finish to last season for 2021/22.
“I was talking to my Monaco teammate Kevin Volland, who was a teammate of Havertz at Bayer Leverkusen,” said the former Blues midfielder.
“He told me that Havertz would usually struggle a little bit at the start of seasons to get going, but that once he gets a clear ride and is mentally good then he’s a fantastic player.
“Havertz didn’t start very, very well at Chelsea and sometimes he looked off the pace. But once Thomas Tuchel put him in a false nine position, it was working better.
“He didn’t have to touch a lot of the ball, but he helped the team tick. He was not losing the ball, he made everyone else secure, he was creating stuff. And I think at the end of the season, he was very, very good.
“I saw that both Werner and Havertz scored for Germany in their last warm-up game, so, hopefully, they can have a good tournament and, definitely, I think we will see different players for Chelsea next season.”
Werner and Havertz are expected to be involved in Germany’s Euro 2020 opener against world champions France on Tuesday.
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