Pundit believes Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson needs to improve in two areas
Former Chelsea, Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Emmanuel Petit believes young striker Nicolas Jackson still needs to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League following his performance against Bournemouth.
In an interview with Betway (h/t Football.London), Petit said the 22-year-old Jackson “didn’t look strong physically” and was “dominated in every fight” by Bournemouth’s defenders.
The Senegal international played the full 90 minutes in the draw against AFC Bournemouth with one shot at goal. However, he was dispossessed 2 times and lost 8 duels for the ball. He managed to score a low 22 per cent success rate for ground duels.
“He should show more composure and fighting spirit sometimes.But he’s not the only one.”
Like his fellow Chelsea players, Jackson is still integrating into the league after his arrival. While the 22-year-old forward had showcased his talent previously in Spain, Petit feels he must quickly get used to the combative and physical nature of English football.
Chelsea signed Jackson from Spanish club Villarreal for £32 million. He debuted for the Blues on August 13 in a 1-1 draw versus Liverpool and netted his first Chelsea goal in their 3-0 victory over newly promoted Luton Town.
However, in his 5 Premier League matches so far, he has only netted once. He has missed 6 big goal-scoring chances and picked up 4 yellow cards. His performance in front of the opponent’s goal hasn’t justified his price tag yet.
However, French pundit Petit does not believe the principle problem lies with Jackson. The Chelsea team as a whole lacks “cohesion”. And only improved team play can resolve their lack of chemistry up front according to the former midfielder.
“He’s suffering from the lack of cohesion between his teammates. Until Chelsea play better collectively and talk the same language, then I think Jackson will not be a magician and solve their problems going forward. So the answer for Chelsea is collective. There was no link between the players.”
Chelsea are currently going through a time of rapid change. The club has let go of experienced players and chose to focus on young blood. The Blues however cannot depend on one young forward to solve all their goal-scoring problems.
Chelsea’s frontline has misfired all season, leaving them with just five goals from their first five games. Jackson and fellow new arrivals Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are still adapting to manager Mauricio Pochettino’s tactics.
The team has missed 12 big goal-scoring chances so far this season, which is an appalling amount. If Pochettino does not soon fix the finishing issue of the club, we will be having huge trouble down the line.
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For Jackson and the rest of Chelsea’s forwards to thrive, the team must develop cohesion as a whole. Only then can their new signings properly exhibit their ability. Pochettino still faces much work to get Chelsea firing on all cylinders in attack.