Former Chelsea left-back Wayne Bridge disagrees with former Arsenal ace Ian Wright that Timo Werner is "lazy" following the latter's comments about him in the wake of Chelsea's 2-1 win at Manchester City on Saturday.
The Blues, who face Arsenal in an eagerly-anticipated London derby on Wednesday evening, came from a goal down at the Etihad Stadium to record a third successive win in all competitions.
Hakim Ziyech cancelled out Raheem Sterling's opener with a low, pinpoint effort from the edge of the box, before Marcos Alonso popped up in the closing stages to turn home Werner's cutback.
In truth, Chelsea could have had more than just the two goals they did get with the chances they created, with opportunities proving frequent in the second half.
One man who could have got himself on the scoresheet for the second game in succession was Werner, with him agonisingly close to connecting with a couple of crosses that came into the box, as well as threatening to get in behind the City backline with his turn of pace.
However, he was unable to time his runs to perfection and was caught out by the linesman's flag.
Those runs that he made drew criticism from Match of the Day pundit Wright, with the former England striker insisting Werner was "lazy" for not getting himself back onside.
Wright told BBC Sport's Match of the Day: "Timo Werner is somebody who I think is having a good season. I know he scored 29 goals at RB Leipzig, which was his best season, and I think coming in with that kind of pressure of scoring goals and then missing the chances he has had... you just have to look at the runs he makes.
"I think he needs to get himself back onside. If he gets himself onside he is in so much space. If he gets himself back he is onto that pass and he is in. It's lazy.
"It is lazy work. He just needs to get himself back onside because he has got the pace [to get in behind]."
Now, former Chelsea defender Bridge has opened up on Werner's maiden season in England and had his say on the comments Wright made about him, admitting that it is unjustified to label the Germany international as "lazy."
"I don’t think you can label him as lazy," Bridge told bettingexpert.com. "When way he played against Real Madrid, the effort he put in the running and closing down means you can’t label him as lazy.
"It’s just a case of timing his runs and needing to switch on a bit more and get onside and maybe he gets a goal. I don’t think he [Ian Wright] is calling Werner lazy for the effort he puts in, it’s just he was a couple of yards offside and he should have got back onside and he might have got the chance.
"If you look at the way he plays he puts a lot of effort in for the team."
When Chelsea swooped to sign Werner last summer for around £50million, many predicted that he would take the Premier League by storm following the goalscoring qualities he had produced in Germany. The same, too, was said for fellow countryman Kai Havertz, who arrived at Stamford Bridge in early-September.
Although they have both struggled to hit the high notes in their first season in England, Bridge has admitted that he would have struggled to adapt after arriving in a new country.
"Havertz and Werner haven’t had a pre-season and to come to the best league in the world is not easy," he added. "My move from Southampton to Chelsea was not easy and if I had moved country I don’t know how I would have coped to be honest.
"You get used to playing with players and what you like and then you know what happens during games, and it’s not easy to just settle in. Some people can hit the ground running and some people can’t.
"If Chelsea do sign a striker I think they’ll still have chances. They’ll still have a good career at Chelsea."
