Here is your Chelsea morning digest on Monday, January 18.
Azpilicueta sends message
Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta has issued a rallying message to his teammates after they picked up their first win of the year with a 1-0 victory over Fulham.
Azpilicueta started his fourth consecutive game in all competitions, with Reece James nearing a return but not quite ready to play at Craven Cottage.
The Blues ended their poor run of results with the win and the Spanish full-back has acknowledged that his team need to build on the three points.
Speaking to Chelsea's official website, the 31-year-old said: "It was difficult. We knew that we were playing against a team that had a couple of good results.
"They were improving in their play, they were conceding very few chances to the opposition, so we had to fight. When you are in a bad run of results the key is to start winning.
"It’s very important and obviously we have to start winning more games and this was a game that we knew we had to win and we did the job."
Redknapp sends Werner and Pulisic warning
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp has told Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic that they must improve despite Chelsea's return to winning ways in the Premier League.
Pulisic was chosen from the start by Frank Lampard for the west London derby, but failed to make a serious impression in the 90 minutes he played.
As for Werner, he dropped down to the bench, with Olivier Giroud coming into the side, but the Germany striker was introduced on 74 minutes for the Frenchman.
The summer signing looked set to score his first Premier League goal since November 7 when he raced through on goal, but the 24-year-old couldn't find the target.
Redknapp, speaking on Sky Sports, has called on the Chelsea forward duo to improve.
"I’m sure if you're Mason Mount this summer, and he sees Ziyech coming in and the likes of Havertz, he thinks, ‘where am I gonna fit in?', it’s difficult," the former Liverpool midfielder said.
"It can take a knock on your confidence, but right now, it’s the younger players leading the way. I wanna see more from Pulisic, Werner hasn’t done it yet. His confidence is rock-bottom, he needs something to go in."
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Silva discovers perfect partner
Lampard has finally found Thiago Silva's perfect centre-back partner following his side's 1-0 win over Fulham.
Antonio Rudiger, rather surprisingly, came into the side in place of Kurt Zouma for the win at Craven Cottage, with the Chelsea boss explaining that something needed to be done considering their poor run of results.
Rudiger was solid all game and helped Silva keep a much-needed clean sheet against their London rivals. Redknapp, speaking on Sky Sports, explained how well the German centre-back did alongside the experienced Brazilian.
He said: "A couple of answers for him as well - when you’ve only had one clean sheet in seven, sometimes things have to change, whether it’s a system change, a personnel change. I think Rudiger and Thiago Silva looked like a real partnership.
"I know they played against 10 men for half the game, but they looked good, they looked solid, they looked sound. That’s something you can go off because I thought Rudiger was really good today."
