Chelsea: Four lessons learned as Blues slide past Brighton
By Tan Yi Hao
4. A mixed bag of German Debuts
While it is true that Timo Werner neither scored nor assisted a goal directly, it was nevertheless an impressive first showing from Chelsea’s new number 11. Apart from winning the penalty that led to Chelsea’s opener from the spot through Jorginho, Werner displayed the kind of intelligence and speed in his movements off and on the ball that clearly vindicates the club’s decision to buy him in the first place. This ability to help the team even when he is not on the scoreboard is a running theme amongst the great Chelsea strikers of the past and Werner’s work-rate and selfless running should quickly endure him to the Stamford Bridge faithful.
On the other hand, Kai Havertz’s maiden run out in the blue of Chelsea was somewhat underwhelming considering the hype that surrounded the German’s arrival at the club. As obviously talented as the 21-year-old is, Chelsea’s new number 29 had only been training at the club for less than a week and it clearly showed in how off the pace he was. However, a bedding-in period has always been on the cards for any new arrivals in the league and any in-depth reading into Havertz’s first performance should be taken with no more than a pinch of salt.
Both Chelsea and Havertz will get progressively better as the season churns on and the players have had more time to work with each other in training and on the playing field. It is the beginning of a new era at the Bridge and what better thing to focus on other than the fact that Chelsea was able to grind out a win in a fixture that saw them drop two points last season.
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