Joe Cole thinks Frank Lampard should drop Timo Werner while he is out of form after Chelsea lost 2-1 to Wolves on Tuesday night.
Pedro Neto struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to claim a 2-1 comeback win for the hosts.
Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for the visitors four minutes after the break before Daniel Podence’s deflected effort pulled Wolves level.
EARLY LOSER: Lampard watching worthless Werner
Kurt Zouma hit the crossbar for Chelsea and the hosts also had a late penalty awarded and then overturned.
Victory would have taken the visitors top of the Premier League but they slipped to back-to-back top-flight defeats for the first time in over a year after Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Everton.
Werner has gone eight matches without a goal for Chelsea in all competitions and Cole thinks it could be wise to give him a rest.
“I think Werner, when he comes in off that left, he’s very, very dangerous,” Cole said on Amazon Prime Video.
“I just think he just needs to brush up on his finishing, but he’s a young striker and he will do that. So I’ve got no doubts he’ll be a top player for Chelsea but there’s options now and he [Lampard] needs to move it around. Ziyech and Hudson-Odoi to come back in, freshen it up at some point. Take Werner out, bring him back in.
“It’s a marathon to win a title usually, and certainly this year. You’ve got to use your whole squad. So Werner maybe come out, bring the other lads back in.”
Cole added: “I think he’s had a good start to his Chelsea career.
“You can compare him with other big foreign imports, sometimes they come to this league – certainly in these situations you have to understand it might take time for them to settle.
“I think for him and [Kai] Havertz it has as well. Werner has probably settled in a little bit quicker. They are two top players, I know because you see the glimpses. But I have no doubt Werner and Havertz will be massive players for Chelsea.”