THOMAS TUCHEL has warned his struggling strikers they are running out of time to start delivering goals.
Chelsea have scored just 13 times in the 12 games since the German took over as boss — with six of those coming from midfielders Mason Mount and Jorginho.
Both are suspended for tonight’s Champions League last-16 second leg with Atletico Madrid, meaning it would be the perfect time for goal-shy Timo Werner to step up.
Tuchel, whose side lead 1-0 from the away leg, said: “We create enough chances and half- chances to win games.
“We had by far enough chances, touches in the box and deliveries against Leeds to win this game comfortably with two goals.
“If you arrive at elite football at the highest level then there is no time to perform. The time simply doesn’t exist.
“You are simply in a competition with other players in your team.
“There is no time to get four or five matches in a row to score regularly. That simply does not exist.”
Chelsea’s strikers have scored just three times between them since January, with £48million man Werner managing just two goals in his last 26 games.
And their attacking problems deepened with Tammy Abraham ruled out of tonight’s clash at Stamford Bridge through injury.
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Tuchel insists every other department in his squad is firing on all cylinders, helping Chelsea climb to fourth in the Premier League on the back of a 12-game unbeaten run including Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Leeds.
He has rejigged his strikers to try to find a solution and admits it may have hindered rather than helped.
Tuchel said: “Then it is clearly my fault and I take responsibility for changing.
“At the same time, if we put the goalkeeper in goal, we expect him to perform in that match.
“If we put the defensive line-up, then we expect the line-up to have a clean sheet and not just one in every three matches.
“We try to put them in a good mindset.
“We are pushing them and they’re working hard against the ball with the whole team, so this is also a point.
“We did some changes because we needed to adapt.
“The results are not crazily bad. We need to be more precise and focus better on our decision-making, the technique, how to finish — and these are the points that we work on.
“Our strikers are very aware of that and they have the highest demands of themselves. We are not pointing fingers to make this clear.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
