Nicolas Jackson being one of Chelsea’s most important player was never an accepted notion, but after a poor run of form, which coincided with his time on the sidelines, his decisiveness for the club has been further highlighted.
His kind of player is not in the books at Chelsea, and even though he is not the best there can be, he remains as important as anyone at the club, even Cole Palmer isn’t an exception – now everyone knows why every manager sticks with him leading the lines.
Even if not everything, Chelsea had a couple going well prior to Nicolas Jackson’s injury against West Ham United. The goals, partial consistency in results and points, they were just six points behind second place Arsenal.
However, since the injury which has kept him out of action since the start of February, things have gone south for the West Londoners. They now find themselves in hot waters, with a place in the top four their surviving fight in the league.
That itself looks like a battle they could eventually lose, with defending champions Manchester City still below them on the log. They are 21 points off first place.
Nicolas Jackson Back in Time for Chelsea
Nicolas Jackson has had to live through a lot of criticism since his arrival at Chelsea. He never gets deserved credits for his good displays while he gets blamed for most of the misfortunes that had befallen the club.
His time out has taught his critics harsh lessons, as not only did his understudies in the team failed to full his boots, but other regular attackers struggle. Cole Palmer for example has really struggled without Jackson.
The Englishman has neither scored nor assist in all of his Chelsea appearances since the injury to Nicolas Jackson, while Chelsea has also won two and lost three of five league games in that period, with the wins coming against relegation threatened Southampton and Leicester City.
Time has proven that the former Villarreal man offered so much than his nine goals and five league assists so far, a tally that even set him on his way to have a better productive season that his first at the club.
His return for the run-in is a huge boost for Enzo Maresca’s side, who could really do with a spark in their attack, which has lacked so much cutting edge in recent games.
The Italian was always a fan of the 23-year-old and speaks highly of him. In one of his interviews earlier in the season, Enzo Maresca talked on the importance of Jackson to the team.
“We know very well that he’s very important for us. On the ball, he’s working fantastic. He’s scoring goals, assisting, and linking with his teammates. Said the former Leicester City boss.
And off the ball is, he is working hard, pressing in the way we want to press. And he’s doing fantastic with us.” He concluded.
While Nicolas Jackson’s return is a good news, Noni Madueke is also back in training, while Chelsea will also have almost a full house for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, including Cole Palmer, who missed the final game before the international break away to Arsenal.
Chelsea will be looking for a win to keep hold of fourth position as they could even be down to up to seventh on the log before kickoff in Stamford Bridge, should results elsewhere not ho their way.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
2 Comments
Pressure go calm a bit more morale for the team
Nice one