Pundit Tim Sherwood recently criticized Nicolas Jackson, the Chelsea striker, labelling him “like someone playing in Soccer Aid who’s not a footballer.” It then prompted a debate on what Jackson was capable of.
Senegalese striker Jackson, 23, has still to convince everyone heโs the answer since joining the Premier League in 2023. His first performances at Chelsea were inconsistent despite his raw talent on show at Villarreal. But after 50 Premier League appearances, he has got the nod with his goalscoring skills.
Since his arrival, Jackson has been among the Premier Leagueโs top scorers. His Brentford strike took his tally to 23 from 50 starts. In that time, he’s been outscored by only seven players, with just Watkins and Erling Haaland having scored more, the inclusion of penalties included.
Indeed, Jackson’s finishing is criticized by some, but statistics instruct a different tale. He currently gets himself into good scoring positions and converts a decent amount of his chances. He gets in dangerous positions and he ranks highly for non-penalty expected goals per 90 minutes. Also, heโs a good shot on the non-penalty shots.
Jackson has been on fire lately, scoring five goals in his last eight games. His scoring opportunities might be streaky, but get him into the right position and he’s got a very good chance of finishing. Perhaps that explains why he didnโt perform as well in terms of netting chances as he should have done last season. That could be a reason for his lack of top-flight experience at that time.
Nicolas Jackson having a season to remember
Jackson’s appointment as Chelsea manager has been a positive in the recent appointment of Enzo Maresca. Jackson’s given a more attacking role by Maresca, who has concentrated on goalscoring rather than build-up play. The result was that Jackson touched the ball less overall yet more inside the opposing team’s penalty area.
It’s helped other creative players too, like Cole Palmer. Jackson has been assisted four times and become Palmer’s main provider, as the winger has created several chances.
Jackson is on course to become one of Chelsea’s finest-ever goalscorers in the Premier League. At this stage of his career, with Palmer’s help, he has scored goals after goals.
That non-penalty tally of 23 in Jacksonโs first 50 Premier League appearances is impressive. This feat has only been accomplished by a few men like Diego Costa and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. It would be possible for him to even leapfrog Palmer. Whom Chelsea has had for 21 goalless non-penalty goals from 49 games.
Chelsea fans not considering themselves as “Challengers”
Outside of his club, Jackson is on the radar for only a very few Premier League players who have garnered more than 23 goals in their first 50 games. Unlike Andrew Cole, who scored 41 times in a season. His achievement beats that of other famous strikers such as Jurgen Klinsmann, Eric Cantona and Didier Drogba.
It is historically Chelsea’s first Premier League season in which they haven’t had a player score 20 or more non-penalty goals. It’s enough to put Jackson halfway through the current season just one goal away from reaching that mark.
While Maresca might downplay it, Chelsea is a real title contender in the Premier League now. Their success very well may depend on how they attack. Jackson is looking like the goal scorer they need to challenge for the League based on the first four months of this season.
Right now all the Chelsea fans donโt want to say that if you are thinking about doing the title challenge talk just now then everyone just doesnโt want to do it, theyโre not thinking about it, they are not โTitle challengersโ.
Author’s opinion
In my view, You can certainly doubt the need for a new striker option with the type of record Nicolas Jackson is having this season for Chelsea.
Now that the season’s in progress, it’d be cool to see if Jackson can land his goalscoring form. That game versus Everton is very important. Can he prolong his hot streak and help Chelsea march up the table? Only time will tell.
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