Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has described Alan Shearer’s criticism of Nicolas Jackson as “dangerous”, but admitted the striker was “not at his best” against Brentford at the weekend.
The Senegalese international has scored just twice in nine Premier League outings since joining the club from Villareal for a reported £32 million transfer fee, and failed to find the net on Sunday as the Bees won 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Shearer was highly critical of the forward, highlighting his “complete lack of movement” and explaining “goalscorers don’t hang around on the edge of the box like he does. It’s his job to get on the end of it”.
When asked if he had seen Shearer’s analysis on Match of the Day, Pochettino answered: “I nearly said no, but I cannot lie! That is what we were talking about at half-time, about exposing the space.
“But I think that Nico, if you watch the game against Liverpool or Dortmund in pre-season, or Luton, he was doing what the analysis was about and what we expect. But for different circumstances, Nico is not at his best today. For different circumstances, but we need to recover the player that was.
“But it’s really dangerous this type of analysis because it’s one game. I cannot lie, it wasn’t his best but we need to be fair.
“If you watch Luton, if you watch Dortmund in pre-season, if you watch Liverpool, you will see this is one player. Brentford game was another player. I agree with the analysis, but it’s not fair to say he is not this or you know. I agree with analysis, but not to say he is not capable to do what we expect of him.”
Pochettino believes that Jackson will come good, but says the player will need more time to prosper at the club.
“I believe in him, I believe,” the Blues boss said. “The only problem is time. I don’t want to give examples, but he arrived at Chelsea in a situation is not easy for him. Another player had the same situation like Nico and maybe because we didn’t score it’s another day.”
The Argentine added: “That is why we cannot be unfair in the analysis because he was frustrated from the beginning for different circumstances. But we need to give time, for sure he has the conditions. He showed that the conditions he has it’s only give time to him.”
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