'You have to step away' - Werner admits struggles with media in first season at Chelsea

BetOdds Timo Werner Chelsea Premier League

The German striker concedes that he allowed himself to be affected by criticism from outside sources in 2020-21

Timo Werner has admitted to struggles with the media during his first season at Chelsea.

Chelsea invested £47.5 million ($66m) in Werner last summer in the hope that he would end their search for a prolific goalscorer, but he struggled to live up to expectations after making the transition from the Bundesliga to the Premier League.

The former RB Leipzig star was often criticised for a lack of composure in front of goal, despite helping the Blues finish the 2020-21 season as Champions League winners, and he has now opened up on the mental battle he faced to block out the outside noise and stay focused on his game.

"I think the most important thing in football is to keep your mentality up, keep your head clean from outside," Werner told Chelsea's official website.

"The media is getting bigger and bigger nowadays. Of course, when you play good you are the hero everywhere, but when you play badly it is a totally different story.

"You have to step away from that and concentrate on your football. It’s not always easy because you have media on your phone, media always around you which can bring something up you can see, but you have to be straight, in your own bubble, to think only about the football.

"It’s also important to always have people around you who help you, and give you strength to go on. Also, in the good moments they can bring you down a little bit, so you don’t think you are the hero.

"So they stop you in the good moments, and lift you up during the bad ones."

Werner has already racked up 52 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea, with his willingness to run in behind and intelligent link-up play adding a new dimension to the team's attack.

The 25-year-old contributed an impressive 15 assists to the Blues' cause last term, but only found the net himself on 12 occasions, and he is eager to improve on those numbers when the new campaign kicks off later this month.

Werner also says Thomas Tuchel's side will be out to retain their European crown and dethrone current Premier League champions Manchester City, as he added: "We want to win a title; it doesn’t matter which one.

"The best thing would be the Champions League again, but also the Premier League is a big target. One of those titles is our target.

"For me individually it is to score maybe a little bit more than last year, which was not the best thing, but to keep going and to help the team as much as I can with assists and scoring."

2021-08-04 18:00:04

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