On ESPN today they couldn’t get their heads around the news that Nicolas Jackson had been given a new 9 year contract.
Steve Nicol pointed out that the striker “is only playing because they haven’t signed a centre forward.” It’s true that Jackson felt like he was going to be the support act to a bigger, more established name when he arrived, but he did well last season and a lot of the players we were linked to this summer seemed more like alternatives to Jackson than straight upgrades.
We’re big Nicolas Jackson fans, so we naturally want to push back against the idea that he’s just in the team temporarily – but let’s face it, there is some truth to it. If we had spent £100m on Victor Osimhen (and we may yet do), there’s no hiding from the fact that Jackson will see the bench, regardless of how well he’s done.
You can see their discussion in the clip embedded here:
Why? Why would Nicolas Jackson automatically be sent to the bench??? This is the laziest of analyses (nothing new on ESPNFC) and Chelsea News just parrots it without even a moment’s scrutiny.
It took me 30 seconds to look on FBref and confirm that Jackson’s 2 goals in 3 games is exactly equal to his 2.0 xnpG. Why would a player be sent to the bench based on those stats unless it’s entirely based on preconceived notions tied to past performance (which is the definition of LAZY football analysis!)? C’mon Chelsea News, take the two minutes to put some thought into this stuff before you mindlessly echo it. It’s not helpful, and, indeed, it’s unfair to a player in Nicolas Jackson who, thus far, is firing on all cylinders.