Sky Sports pundit Stephen Warnock has admitted some of the criticism of Nicolas Jackson this season has been unfair.
Jackson arrived from Spanish side Villareal last summer, and despite impressing in his first season has come in for criticism over his missed chances.
The 22-year-old has scored 13 Premier League goals so far this campaign with 16 in all competitions, which matches Didier Drogba’s total in his first season.
Warnock admits criticism of Jackson has been unfair
The Blues and their players have come under a lot of scrutiny for their performances this season, and you could say rightly so given the vast outlay in the transfer market.
However, despite an indifferent campaign and their obvious struggles, Chelsea’s young squad are still in with a chance of qualifying for next season’s Europa League.
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom at Stamford Bridge this season and their have been some bright sparks, namely Cole Palmer, but others have also impressed such as Malo Gusto and Jackson.
Following the Senegal international’s performances this season Warnock admitted he feels criticism of Jackson has been unfair.
“I think maybe we’ve been a little bit harsh on Nicolas Jackson at times because he’s missed so may opportunities, but his actual return in his first season in the Premier League’s been better than Didier Drogba”, he told Sky Sports.
“He maybe should have had 5-10 more goals because of the chances created for him.
“I think that’s just how harsh criticism can be of certain players.”
Jackson can certainly be frustrating given the chances he misses, but his all round play is very good and there’s certainly a lot to be excited about in regards to him.
The forward has set himself a target of 15 Premier League goals meaning he needs to score twice in Chelsea’s final three games.
Of all the problems at Stamford Bridge this season Jackson certainly isn’t one of them.
Good on Warnock for acknowledging his rush to judgment. Would be nice to see a lot more people (like the writers at “Chelsea News”!) do the same thing instead of acting like they’ve been on the Nicolas Jackson bandwagon all along. The kind of criticism that was leveled at Jackson at some low points this season was really over the top, especially considering that his underlying stats showed that, despite his high profile misses, he was still producing quite of a lot of good for the team.