Timo Werner has revealed what he found difficult during Frank Lampard’s time at Chelsea.
Lampard paid the ultimate price for failing to get Chelsea‘s summer signings up and running after the Blues spent more than £200million to overhaul their squad.
Werner was one of those players, having arrived for more than £47million from RB Leipzig, the German international struggling for form under Lampard.
But while the former Chelsea boss isn’t necessarily to blame for that, there may be a reason Lampard couldn’t connect with Werner in order to improve his confidence.
Werner has revealed there was a language barrier between the two, telling Chelsea’s Mike’d Up podcast: “Of course, you speak another language.
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“For you guys (the hosts), when you come from America to London or England is much easier because it’s the same language.
“German is completely different to English. We learned it in school, but it’s always hard to understand.
“For example, when we had Lampard as the manager before, everything was in English, but now (under Tuchel) it’s more in German as well, so it’s easier for me.
“To understand everything at the beginning was not easy.”
Werner may not be at his best just yet, but his form has improved under Tuchel, and that was shown by his smart assist for Chelsea’s winner against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final last time out.
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The 25-year-old has already racked up 43 appearances for Chelsea this season, scoring 10 times and assisting 12 so far.
Those figures don’t come close to matching his form from his Leipzig days, but Chelsea are well aware it takes time to adapt to the Premier League, and it does seem as though his confidence is returning under Tuchel, who has helped the Blues revive their hopes of finishing in the top two, as well as guiding them to the Champions League semi-finals.