Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has defended Nicolas Jackson following his poor showing in the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers last Sunday.
Nicolas Jackson did not have the best game and was taken off in the second half, which resulted in Chelsea supporters cheering.
However, Mauricio Pochettino, who spoke to the Evening Standard and the rest of the English media after the game, urged fans to stop putting all of the blame on the 22-year-old.
While Jackson is proving to be a polarising figure at Stamford Bridge, he is still Chelsea‘s top scorer this season. He has netted eight times in all competitions so far, more than any of his team-mates.
Mauricio Pochettino wants the whole Chelsea team to be blamed, not just Nicolas Jackson
Pochettino does not think it is fair for Jackson to shoulder all of the blame whenever Chelsea struggle in front of goal.
On the striker, he said: “It is always about expectation, how you manage expectation and set the expectation. If we compare Jackson to different strikers that arrive at his age to a new league, he is scoring goals when you look at his performances.
“It is not about blaming him. I think you can accept the frustration from the fans. It is about when we don’t score, [for] the offensive players, but I think we need to blame all together.
“My advice is to blame them all together because football is a team sport, a collective sport, we cannot blame only one [player].”
Raheem Sterling also to blame for Wolves defeat
Again, Jackson was not exactly great in that defeat at Molineux, but the £32m Senegal international (The Guardian) was probably not the main culprit behind the loss.
Overall, Raheem Sterling had a pretty good game, and it was actually his cross that Christopher Nkunku got on the end of to score the Blues’ consolation goal.
However, the England international could have squared the ball to Cole Palmer in the first half for a tap in that would have given Chelsea the lead. Instead, he took the shot which was easily saved and cost his side the game. That was worse than anything Jackson did during the match.
