Chelsea forward with ‘no instinct’ is compared to Richarlison as Blues told they’re ‘carrying him’
Former Chelsea man Tony Cascarino has said Nicolas Jackson is “like Richarlison for Tottenham” in that his club are “carrying him and he’s finding it difficult”.
The Blues’ striker woes are not new. Since the 2009/10 season in which Didier Drogba netted 29 times in the Premier League, only twice has a Chelsea player scored 20 or more goals in the league – Diego Costa in 2014/15 and 2016/17.
Last season’s top goalscorer in the league for the Blues, Kai Havertz, scored just seven times. As such, they attempted to rectify their issues up top by recruiting some new forward talent in the form of Christopher Nkunku and Jackson.
The former got injured before he could play in a competitive match, and Jackson has scored twice in nine league games, along with one League Cup strike.
Cascarino has compared him to Richarlison, who’s largely struggled during his time at Tottenham, scoring twice in all competitions this season despite the side doing very well.
“Nicolas Jackson is a bit like Richarlison for Tottenham,” Cascarino told talkSPORT.
“They’re [Chelsea] carrying him a bit and he’s finding it difficult. He’s not got that instinct to strike a ball properly, but he also wasn’t given a lot [of opportunities].”
Jackson has started seven of the nine Premier League games he’s been available for this season – he’s been suspended for one – and played 45 minutes in one of the two games he didn’t start.
As such, the assessment that he’s not been given a lot of chances isn’t all too accurate, he’s simply not made the most of the chances he’s had.
Chelsea will want to give him as much chance to come good as they can, or they’ll have wasted £32million on him.
However, at the moment, he’s the fourth-worst finisher in the league in terms of xG compared to actual goals – he’s 2.2 goals behind where he should be.
If he keeps missing the target when he should be scoring, it’s likely he’ll be replaced at some point in the season, and that may happen anyway when Nkunku is fit.
Indeed, Chelsea will want to start finding the target given they’re 11th in the Premier League and have scored 13 goals in 10 games.
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