TIMO WERNER will come good for Chelsea despite a disappointing night against Wolves, Joe Cole has claimed.
A rollercoaster start to life in West London has seen the German’s form dip in an eight-game scoreless spell.
Having taken a few weeks to get off the mark, Werner smashed six goals in five games through October and early November – but has failed to net since.
Tuesday’s trip to Wolves saw the 24-year-old fire off three shots, as many as any Chelsea player, and again fail to score.
Former Blues star Cole has assured fans that the forward only needs to make minor adjustments to find form.
He told Amazon Prime: “I think Werner, when he comes in off that left, he’s very, very dangerous.
“I just think he just needs to brush up on his finishing, but he’s a young striker and he will do that.
“So I’ve got no doubts he’ll be a top player for Chelsea, but there are options now and [Frank Lampard] needs to move it around.
Olivier Giroud opened the scoring at Molineux before Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto produced a late turnaround for Wolves.
The defeat came after a 1-0 loss at Everton on the weekend, with injuries limiting Frank Lampard’s options in attack.
Chelsea had Christian Pulisic back on Tuesday with Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi out until Christmas.
And Cole believes Werner and fellow new signing Kai Havertz may benefit from a rest when the manager is able to rotate the team.
The 39-year-old added: “Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi [are there] to come back in, freshen it up at some point. Take Werner out, bring him back in.
“It’s a marathon to win a title usually, and certainly this year. You’ve got to use your whole squad.
“So Werner maybe come out, bring the other lads back in.
“I think he’s had a good start to his Chelsea career.
“You can compare him with other big foreign imports, sometimes they come to this league – certainly in these situations you have to understand it might take time for them to settle.
“I think for him and Havertz it has as well. Werner has probably settled in a little bit quicker.
“They are two top players, I know because you see the glimpses.
“But I have no doubt Werner and Havertz will be massive players for Chelsea.”
Fellow pundit Paul Scholes credited Chelsea’s quality after the game but felt a lack of experience in midfield will see them miss out on the title.
Boss Lampard insisted fatigue is hitting his players after a busy run but challenged his players to learn a ‘lesson’ from the defeats.
He said: “Clearly when we perform like we did today that’s not game management, that’s not the quality levels that we are striving for.
“I still think there’s a lot of improvement to be done with the group, so I wouldn’t say I’m massively surprised.
“Because my experience with the Premier League tells me that if you drop your standards, which we have in two games, and particularly away from home, you can lose matches, so a big lesson for the players.”
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