Thomas Tuchel bemoans Kai Havertz’s lack of finished product, but hints at continued no.9 role after Leeds

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has provided his take on Kai Havertz’s display versus Leeds United this afternoon, hinting that, despite his profligacy in front of goal, the German is likely to be handed further chances to impress up top.

Leeds 0-0 Chelsea

The Blues made the trip to Elland Road a short time ago, for their latest Premier League outing.

Chelsea of course headed into proceedings brimming with confidence, on the back of an 11-game unbeaten streak under the watch of new boss Tuchel.

Leeds, on the other hand, had fallen to defeat in 4 of their prior 5 league outings.

When all was said and done in west Yorkshire, however, form went out the window, as the two sides were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.

An action-packed 90 minutes, during which Leeds and Chelsea both rattled the woodwork, and missed a handful of other chances to bag an all-important winner, eventually played out into a 0-0 stalemate.

A frantic start at Elland Road! 🔥

Tyler Roberts hits a glorious curling effort, which Edouard Mendy just gets his fingertips too! 🧤

That would have been some goal… pic.twitter.com/ma9jGhdary

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 13, 2021

‘I trust him’

On the back of what could prove to be a potentially costly pair of points dropped for Chelsea, meanwhile, a number of the Blues’ stars have since been singled out for criticism.

The likes of Ben Chilwell and Hakim Ziyech were both well short of their best versus Leeds, but it was Kai Havertz who was responsible for fluffing the best chances created by the visitors at Elland Road.

The German, to his credit, put in a solid shift overall, and does finally appear to be finding his feet on the back of a difficult start to life in the Premier League.

However, when lining out as the spearhead of Chelsea’s attack (albeit in something of a false 9 role), goals will inevitably be demanded, and Havertz was guilty of no less than four missed opportunities this afternoon.

In turn, speaking during his post-match press conference, Thomas Tuchel was inevitably drawn on the latest display of his fellow countryman.

And the Blues boss, despite having been left disappointed by Havertz’s inability to ‘finish like he finishes in training’, went on to confirm that he fully ‘trusts’ the 21-year-old to continue in an advanced role:

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Source: 101greatgoals.com