Gabriele Marcotti tells Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson to avoid shushing the crowd .
Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has come under fire after his poor performance against AFC Bournemouth, with former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon claiming he looked like a “League Two” player.
The 22-year-old Jackson, who arrived from Villarreal this summer for £32 million, fired another blank in the 0-0 draw. The Blues are in desperate need of goals, scoring just 2 in four league games if we ignore the 3-0 win against relegation-batting Luton Town.
In his 5 Premier League matches so far, Jackson has hit the back of the net only once while missing 6 big goal-scoring chances along the way.
Speaking on NBC Sports’ The Two Robbies podcast (h/t football.london) former Arsenal man Lee Dixon said that he had been watching Jackson’s performance against Bournemouth. While he liked his run-ins, his shooting “was like League Two.”
“I was watching him in the game [against Bournemouth] playing on the shoulder and he makes some good little runs. I think that’s why he catches your eye when you first see him play at the start of the season, and you think: “Oh, hang on, he’s got a bit of something here’. He stretches the player, little spins on the shoulder, gets in behind and that’s never a bad thing.”
“If you do that, you’ve always got half a chance. He gets in those positions but what happens after that… Some of his shooting today, wow. It was like League Two.”
Jackson hit the post in the first half and skied another shot in the second period – encapsulating Chelsea’s attacking struggles. With limited experience, he faces huge pressure leading the Blues’ injury-hit frontline. The 22-year-old had only played 12 games for his previous club Villareal.
So, expecting him to lead the attack of a Premier League giant single-handedly seems foolish. Of course, it would have been brilliant if he was firing on all cylinders straightaway but that is hardly the case with young foreign imports.
Chelsea are apparently interested in signing Brentford FC’s Ivan Toney, according to football.london, to bolster their attack. If this transfer prospect is followed through, Chelsea might be able to solve their goal-scoring issues to an extent.
In the 2022/23 season, the English international played 33 matches for Brentford. Out of 76 total shots, he had 40 on target and scored 20 goals.
While Jackson’s movement and runs in behind have been promising, his finishing has badly let him down. Finding the back of the net as soon as possible will surely fix his low confidence.
Let us see if our links with Toney slow down if Jackson starts firing soon. Let us remember he is still very young and we cannot pin all the blame on him for our attacking impotence, given how others around him are also failing to make an impact.
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