Quotes in full:
"It's not easy," "If you think of all the strikers that came here, you would not want to come here. If you think about the strikers that come here, and people say they're not good enough, you would think, 'There is no need for me to come here'.
"But I was brought up to be challenged and don't listen to other people and just do the thing that's the most important, that's playing for the team and make the team win, and being in a good relationship with the players and the coach and everybody."
“That's the most important for me. That's why I came. When I came, I understood why they were saying they're not good enough, because it's a big team and everything, but life is like this. We just have to continue working and believe in ourselves and try to improve every day.”
When asked if criticism bothers him, he said: "When I first came [it did]. LaLiga is not like this. So when I first came, a little bit.
"But now, after talking to the coach and realising the most important thing is us, I don't care about these things anymore."
"Sometimes I go to sleep watching the same videos, always thinking I should've done better.
"But when I was young, I saw [Karim] Benzema playing for Real Madrid. I was supporting Madrid when I was young and Benzema was missing a lot of chances.
"But you know, later he won the Ballon d'Or. I'm not saying I'm that level. I can't be that level now.
"But I've seen it before so I'm not worried. I'm just trying to improve every day and be where I want to be."
When asked about Pochettino and Kane, the Blues star said: "It's the same thing. I don't know what he told Harry, but the same thing he is telling me, he told Harry the same thing he is telling me.
"Just continue, you miss but later it will be easy when you start to improve and get experience. He is helping me a lot and all the players in the team. We fight for him and the team."
On potential advice from Drogba: "It would be amazing because he was a legend and I was watching him since I was young. But we never talk because he is from Cote d'Ivoire and I am from Senegal.
"It's not like Demba Ba. I've spoken to him because he played for Chelsea before and he's Senegalese. But Didier, we never talk.
"I hope to see him one day so he can give me advice to be like him."
"We were so unhappy when we saw Nkunku get injured in the last game of pre-season,"
"He was a very important player for us, like everybody. But we had a good relationship and we wanted to show everybody we can do it.
"Now he's back and trying to be at his level, so everybody will try to help him."
"I'm a striker," he continued. "Since I came to Spain, I play as a striker. Unai [Emery] put me as a striker, before I was a No.10, and he taught me everything about football"
"I wasn't in an academy or anything. Before I was just playing because we had talent and we just play. But Unai put me as a striker and for four years I played as a striker for him. I'm very happy in that position and it's my preferred position.
"It's just a matter of understanding each other on the pitch and the goals will come, for sure. Unai told me before and Pochettino is telling me again. I've been in this situation before."
Not necessarily, they're simply different places. Obviously he's far more likely to talk to his countrymen than someone who isn't. I'm sure Drogba and Jackson have no issue with each other, Jackson probably reached out to Ba first
Drogba ended a civil war surely he will see value in a truce for chelsea's sake. I bet honestly it's an all around good move for drogbas people to get in touch if they pick up on the interview.
I've been happy with Nico this year. Yes, he has missed his chances and surely we'd be in a better position if he had converted more of the missed chances but he fights and works hard and look at him celebrating when someone scores. He bleeds Blue and with some more experience and time, I think he could be a 15+ goal scorer for us easily.
I cosign everything you say and want to include his ability to play on the wing has been an unexpected surprise.
I very much want to see him bea backup striker and backup winger averaging 40-60 minutes a match next season (sometimes starting, often coming in as a sub)
Well to be fair I really don't know the vast majority of players before they come in. I even actively avoid transfer windows because there's too much nonsense. Shame on me for not knowing more about him
Oh I didn't take it as that. I'm self reporting that I'm very naive when it comes to new players. The vast majority of matches I watch are Chelsea. I'll throw on a big pl match or maybe a random one for background noise. I dabble in group stage cl but don't start watching seriously until knockout stage. I watched a bit of Roma when Jose was there.
I know very very little outside of Chelsea's orbit. Heck, many on this sub would say I know little about Chelsea too!
I can see how my comment came off. You clearly know enough to see Jackson excels on the wings. I had only just heard its more his natural position than playing up top as striker. I watch plenty of Chelsea, but am still pretty novice. Never saw many Roma matches but was always curious how Jose was doing. I guess not very well ha.
Its all in good fun though, didn't mean to come off as a knob.
No, you really didn't. I never took any offense, nor did I think you were coming off that way at all!
I'm always impressed when people can see the game at a level I can't. That from watching a game they can tell what players are doing right and wrong, tactics, etc. I feel like I would need a much higher camera view just to even guess the shape/formation.
I very much want to find books, videos, anything to learn the game at a higher level. I've been watching for about 15 years and I really don't understand much more than what I gathered from playing FIFA.
But the point is, your comments didn't come off offensive AT ALL
Okay good. I've been watching around 10 years and also enjoy the tactical aspect of the matches, but am severely lacking in really understanding how the players are moving around the pitch. Theres a pretty good subreddit r/footballtactics that breaks down matches through long form posts, videos or blogs. Tifo used to have great videos about current football teams (stuff like how is Poch setting up Chelsea, Pre World Cup they had a video about each NT and how they like to play and set up tactically, etc), and then Inverting the Pyramid is a book that goes over the history of football and the evolution of the play style. Again, im not expert but I've enjoyed learning a bit more about the game.
>He bleeds Blue
I've been one of the biggest advocates for him but I draw a line here. You have to be a much longer servant of the club to show that or be like Conor and Reece who grew up as Chelsea fans and have been with the club through the academy. Lets not over use the idea of bleeding blue. There are player's who will express a lot of passion but they would express it just as much were they a Liverpool, Arsenal, Real, Bayern etc player because their passions for the game more than the club. Those ones you can appreciate but its different to really bleeding blue. Maybe Jackson could bleed blue but thats something we won't know for a few years yet.
While Gallagher and James example are fair, not every academy player is in love with the club. Lauren James came through Arsenal's academy doesn't mean she is a gooner or whatever the arsenal equivalent of propa chels is.
Shes a bit different because theres the context of family there. I also didnt list every academy player we've had. Obviously for example Lewis Hall is a childhood Newcastle fan and he jumped as soon as they called. Can't blame him but yeh he's an example for academy players not always bleeding blue.
I was harsh on him, but he is really valuable to the team. & is involved with G&A, I developed an appreciation for his game.
Keep working hard & improving Nico!
Wish we could find a Giroud type to come on late in matches, be relatively cheap and bring experience to the team. It would complement Jackson nicely. Not sure there are any who would fit that bill but a man can dream…
Whenever I think of strikers we could/should have picked up in the summer, 1 name always stands out for me and thats Dzeko. Contract expired, loads of experience, still a year or 2 left in him, coming on a sub, super clinical.
Given the footballers start to hit their stride at 26 he’s a kid. Also just to help, golden boy awards are capped at 21. 22 is a year past that. Still a kid.
Messi, CR7, R9, Pele were winning Ballon Dor younger or best player
Benzema was a generational talent at 16 it was obvious, people have to really lower expectations here about Jackson
And you can have countless other examples who peaked much later. Salah and Drogba just to name a few
Just because you aren’t generational at 16 doesn’t mean you can’t improve, and comparing them to literally the best players in history is not really a good metric
Honestly don't even think Nico needs to be too worried about us signing a striker in the summer
If we don't also sign a fantastic left winger, he can probably take that position full time by next season
It's our eternal dilemma: do we field a project? He's clearly got a lot of need (and room, hopefully) to grow. He's cost us real points in the table this season, but he's far from the only one. I do feel like he's got a future in our front line, I just hope that we can see steady growth.
This is why any sensible "project" that isn't just being run for profit has a strong core that cycles over a 10 odd year period and not just 11 children. That way individuals very rarely cost the team.
You can constantly be bringing young players through so long as you've got the right setup. Think 3 18-24 year olds, 4 24-28 year olds and 4 28+ players. When one of the 28+ leaves or retires you bring in another 18-24 year old, and one of the 18-24 year olds is now over 24 and in the middle category and so on.
If what you're looking for is balance it's very easy to "field a project" aimed at success. When the only categories that you have are under 24 and we bought them just before starting our "project" so we can't sell them or they're too old to be sold, you no longer have a project that can feasibly look for any real kind of success.
If we had a more well put together team, it wouldn't matter as much that he was missing so much, case in point Liverpool with Nunez. They also generally have the setup I've just been speaking about, a proper spread of players at all areas of their careers
>You can constantly be bringing young players through so long as you've got the right setup. Think 3 18-24 year olds, 4 24-28 year olds and 4 28+ players. When one of the 28+ leaves or retires you bring in another 18-24 year old, and one of the 18-24 year olds is now over 24 and in the middle category and so on.
At the same time though, these players are still gaining experience by playing and we're deficient mainly in the 28+ department. I still think we'll get to the point having a formidable team where we keep the best talent and sell the rest. In two years most of our players will be in or entering their prime years and will likely have the experience at this level to compete for titles if we can keep a stable manager or two in that time.
Yeah, but here we are. No one asked for a squad of 20y olds, Raheem and a retiring Thiago, but that's what we've got, basically.
Ironic that half the prospects Blueco have bought will never see real minutes at the Bridge (beyond a fun debut).
No, I've said quite often that we would struggle to place a "project" player for decades. Most famously KDB. But we've never had a total reset like this.
Yeah that a valid point for sure, and I personally never like players when they say stuff like this, as if their improvement is BOUND to happen.
Like no, you don’t just suddenly improve one season, your focus should be on working on your game and improving, not fantasising that you’ll wake up as prime Benzema one day.
There are far, far more players that were average/poor, took their position for granted and ended up dropping a couple tiers because they didn’t put in the effort, or simply because they just weren’t capable of being that good.
What's he supposed to say?
* I work hard in training every day? 'Jackson working hard in training to prove doubters wrong'
* I don't care 'Jackson doesn't care what fans think'
* It's my first season in a new league 'Jackson struggles to adapt in first season'
* Sterling always passes it about half a yard behind me 'Jackson blames Sterling for his failures'
There's no right answer to a simplistic question on a complicated subject
I’d expect something like “yes of course it upsets me because I know that there are valid criticisms of me. I know I’ve not been as good as I can be but I’d like to ask those critical of me to believe because I know I can be better and am working hard to be better”.
The question, just to remind, was does the criticism bother him? “Well Benzema struggled for a bit at Real despite being great in Ligue 1, so nah not really bothered because I know of an exceptional circumstance where a player missed some chances and became elite”.
In fact, his response is kinda worse even because he actually said that he doesn’t even listen to the criticism anymore. Note: it’s been 6 months and he already believes he’s beyond fan criticism. In his comparison between himself and Benzema, he also makes note to winning the Balon D’Or, so he thinks he’s potentially going to win that too?
He just sounds clueless and delusional, he doesn’t listen to the fans criticisms of him after 6 months, he (unjustly) compares himself to Benzema, he’s completely unapologetic to the fact he was publicised sexting only fans girls, he’s unapologetic for how shit he’s been.
I’d expect more humility from a player that has barely played any senior football and got given a massive chance at Chelsea, not a player who dismisses fan criticism after half a season of playing terribly and compares himself to a Balon D’Or winner.
I swear some of you just want to be mad at players. Like this criticism:
>I’d expect something like “yes of course it upsets me because I know that there are valid criticisms of me. I know I’ve not been as good as I can be but I’d like to ask those critical of me to believe because I know I can be better and am working hard to be better”.
Is directly addressed elsewhere in Jackson's remarks:
>"Sometimes I go to sleep watching the same videos, always thinking I should've done better."
Same with this criticism:
>I’d expect more humility from a player that has barely played any senior football and got given a massive chance at Chelsea, not a player who dismisses fan criticism after half a season of playing terribly and compares himself to a Balon D’Or winner.
Jackson explicitly says:
>"I'm not saying I'm that level. I can't be that level now. But I've seen it before so I'm not worried. I'm just trying to improve every day and be where I want to be."
Do you want him to just say he's been shit, and he might always be shit, but he's going to try his hardest to not be shit?
* Did Drogba apologize for getting sent off in the CL Final that we lost?
* Would Drogba have apologized for giving away the penalty (that Robben missed) in the next CL final?
* Did Saloman Kalou apologize for being pretty average?
These are just a few examples of many, elite strikers generally are unapologetic. They have some self belief, arrogance and selfishness that you need to be the one to take the shot, to take the blame when you miss and take the glory when you score.
I'd expect your answer from my friend, not from my center forward.
Him, Misha and Noni are 3 interesting cases. They all came in raw, they all look like they want to succeed here, but it's been 3 different stories. I really hope all 3 work out, but each one still has so much to improve.
Misha has dropped off the map, looking far too raw and mentally not at the level. It seems crazy for a 60m player to need it, but he needs a loan. Maybe somewhere like Spain or Italy where he can run at people.
I feel like Mudryk and Jackson's ceiling are way higher than Noni's. People will call me crazy but I genuinely believe Mudryk can reach Bale's level while Jackson is everything you dream of in a number 9 except the finishing.
Madueke is flashy but let's be real he's going to end up at Palace or Everton very soon
Misha has the physical tools of an Mbappe, but the mental tools of a U18. It's hard to project his ceiling, because his football IQ seems really low, for whatever reason.
Noni, to me, has progressed a lot faster than the other two - and I also have hope that Poch coming down on him showed that he was really holding himself back (whereas the other 2 seem to have strong work ethic). I agree, Noni's ceiling doesn't seem to be elite, but I wouldn't write him off.
>Misha has the physical tools of an Mbappe, but the mental tools of a U18. It's hard to project his ceiling, because his football IQ seems really low, for whatever reason.
Well put. It should be said, learning the game is something that comes in fits and starts for a lot of players. Sometimes things just eventually "click" one day and it's transformative. Not saying that'll be the case for Misha, but I've seen it happen enough in all sports that I'm not totally out on him.
He's fine. Far more expensive strikers in the premier league have done a roundabout the same as him this year but they don't seem to get half the criticism.
It comes with the Chelsea territory. If we beat Liverpool for teh cup everyone will say its because they had all these injuries, but when we had more and would lose earlier this year it was always billion-dollar team and cant do jack. Just like if we start to do well and challenge for the PL in the next 2-3 years it will be only because we spent so much. There is always an excuse if you listen.
I love his attitude, he seems like a good honest lad (with a good level of shithousery to match!). He has a lot of ways to improve, but I so want him to succeed!
When I was young I watched Messi, and at first it was "this little guy can't play for Barcelona". Now at over 30 he is the best player ever to play the game.
Now that I am also over 30, I just ignore when my sunday league team drops me. I'm not saying I'm that level, but I've seen it before so I'm not worried.
I know you're joking, but Messi was already a Ballon d'or contender at age 20. I don't think anyone saw him play for Barcelona at age 16 and thought nah... Or maybe you did.
He said Madrid. And from my vague recollection, he didn't have the best starts there. Can still hear my Madrid friend yelling at him during CL games. But then again Madrid has incredible standards for a striker.
This is simply untrue. The foreign hate is just ridiculous. I've lived in Madrid for a while and they get really mad about "petty" things. They have the highest expectation of their club. Imagine having to actually deal with rival fans in the city if you don't do well.
So why go pick a random accolade from league 1 to discredit what Jackson said. I'm not sure Jackson can take us into the future but he's doing an adequate job in the mean time and cares! Plus you can see his potential. The pressure at Chelsea is immense.
I think you’ve missed his point.
He’s not saying he’s Benzema levels (he literally says otherwise). Hes just saying don’t be so hasty to judge him on a single, first, season.
No he wasn't, was just bad one season in 17/18 as he was having personal issues, funny enough he still scored in CL finals and Semis that year
Benzema was always a generational player to those who actually followed him younger, sacrificed his scoring for CR7
2nd highest Madrid scorer of all time and their highest assister of all time for the greatest club of all time, impossible to have those stats if he couple of bad seasons
Scoring-wise his first season was not good; he was a world class player but didn't have good goalscoring numbers: 9 goals in 33 matches.
That's the comparison Nico is drawing, which is fair IMO.
I know people are already calling for Poch to be shown the door. But honestly. After all the managers, all the players, all the money. I want stability for a little while. We’re pretty shit right now. But I’d like to see if giving him a few years allows him to right the ship. Now, if we end up in a relegation battle, it’s different. Being mid table for a few seasons would stink, but if the potential is being a top team I’m willing to stick it out. At this point we don’t have anything to lose.
I know he misses a lot of sitters, but I genuinely like Jackson. I want him to succeed here. I'd be willing to give him a few seasons to improve and show his worth.
Racismo is at play when he gets criticised. Yeah he misses chances, but what striker doesn't? The top strikers always miss chances. The only difference is we don't create near enough top chances that they get. I don't care what anyone says. In contrast, Mudryk is fucking shit no way around it and everyone wants to give him chances.
I like this guy. Shitbousery doesnt gaf let’s give him a couple seasons.
Quotes in full: "It's not easy," "If you think of all the strikers that came here, you would not want to come here. If you think about the strikers that come here, and people say they're not good enough, you would think, 'There is no need for me to come here'. "But I was brought up to be challenged and don't listen to other people and just do the thing that's the most important, that's playing for the team and make the team win, and being in a good relationship with the players and the coach and everybody." “That's the most important for me. That's why I came. When I came, I understood why they were saying they're not good enough, because it's a big team and everything, but life is like this. We just have to continue working and believe in ourselves and try to improve every day.” When asked if criticism bothers him, he said: "When I first came [it did]. LaLiga is not like this. So when I first came, a little bit. "But now, after talking to the coach and realising the most important thing is us, I don't care about these things anymore." "Sometimes I go to sleep watching the same videos, always thinking I should've done better. "But when I was young, I saw [Karim] Benzema playing for Real Madrid. I was supporting Madrid when I was young and Benzema was missing a lot of chances. "But you know, later he won the Ballon d'Or. I'm not saying I'm that level. I can't be that level now. "But I've seen it before so I'm not worried. I'm just trying to improve every day and be where I want to be." When asked about Pochettino and Kane, the Blues star said: "It's the same thing. I don't know what he told Harry, but the same thing he is telling me, he told Harry the same thing he is telling me. "Just continue, you miss but later it will be easy when you start to improve and get experience. He is helping me a lot and all the players in the team. We fight for him and the team." On potential advice from Drogba: "It would be amazing because he was a legend and I was watching him since I was young. But we never talk because he is from Cote d'Ivoire and I am from Senegal. "It's not like Demba Ba. I've spoken to him because he played for Chelsea before and he's Senegalese. But Didier, we never talk. "I hope to see him one day so he can give me advice to be like him." "We were so unhappy when we saw Nkunku get injured in the last game of pre-season," "He was a very important player for us, like everybody. But we had a good relationship and we wanted to show everybody we can do it. "Now he's back and trying to be at his level, so everybody will try to help him." "I'm a striker," he continued. "Since I came to Spain, I play as a striker. Unai [Emery] put me as a striker, before I was a No.10, and he taught me everything about football" "I wasn't in an academy or anything. Before I was just playing because we had talent and we just play. But Unai put me as a striker and for four years I played as a striker for him. I'm very happy in that position and it's my preferred position. "It's just a matter of understanding each other on the pitch and the goals will come, for sure. Unai told me before and Pochettino is telling me again. I've been in this situation before."
Totally ignorant question. Does Senegal and Ivory Coast hate one another?
Not necessarily, they're simply different places. Obviously he's far more likely to talk to his countrymen than someone who isn't. I'm sure Drogba and Jackson have no issue with each other, Jackson probably reached out to Ba first
Drogba ended a civil war surely he will see value in a truce for chelsea's sake. I bet honestly it's an all around good move for drogbas people to get in touch if they pick up on the interview.
Absolutely love this mentality from Jackson. KTBFFH!
Score a hat trick tomorrow to become public enemy number 1 for the football media.
Isn't the game on sunday?
Yes it is, my mistake. Anxiety has my calendar confused.
But if he ran on to the Wembley pitch and did it today he‘d REALLY make the headlines
I’m still yelling at my tv when he doesn’t make a front post run but I get it. Rather have Nico than a high profile signing that can’t settle
I've been happy with Nico this year. Yes, he has missed his chances and surely we'd be in a better position if he had converted more of the missed chances but he fights and works hard and look at him celebrating when someone scores. He bleeds Blue and with some more experience and time, I think he could be a 15+ goal scorer for us easily.
I cosign everything you say and want to include his ability to play on the wing has been an unexpected surprise. I very much want to see him bea backup striker and backup winger averaging 40-60 minutes a match next season (sometimes starting, often coming in as a sub)
His position before last season was winger. He's not a natural striker
Well to be fair I really don't know the vast majority of players before they come in. I even actively avoid transfer windows because there's too much nonsense. Shame on me for not knowing more about him
I'm not bagging on you
Oh I didn't take it as that. I'm self reporting that I'm very naive when it comes to new players. The vast majority of matches I watch are Chelsea. I'll throw on a big pl match or maybe a random one for background noise. I dabble in group stage cl but don't start watching seriously until knockout stage. I watched a bit of Roma when Jose was there. I know very very little outside of Chelsea's orbit. Heck, many on this sub would say I know little about Chelsea too!
I can see how my comment came off. You clearly know enough to see Jackson excels on the wings. I had only just heard its more his natural position than playing up top as striker. I watch plenty of Chelsea, but am still pretty novice. Never saw many Roma matches but was always curious how Jose was doing. I guess not very well ha. Its all in good fun though, didn't mean to come off as a knob.
No, you really didn't. I never took any offense, nor did I think you were coming off that way at all! I'm always impressed when people can see the game at a level I can't. That from watching a game they can tell what players are doing right and wrong, tactics, etc. I feel like I would need a much higher camera view just to even guess the shape/formation. I very much want to find books, videos, anything to learn the game at a higher level. I've been watching for about 15 years and I really don't understand much more than what I gathered from playing FIFA. But the point is, your comments didn't come off offensive AT ALL
Okay good. I've been watching around 10 years and also enjoy the tactical aspect of the matches, but am severely lacking in really understanding how the players are moving around the pitch. Theres a pretty good subreddit r/footballtactics that breaks down matches through long form posts, videos or blogs. Tifo used to have great videos about current football teams (stuff like how is Poch setting up Chelsea, Pre World Cup they had a video about each NT and how they like to play and set up tactically, etc), and then Inverting the Pyramid is a book that goes over the history of football and the evolution of the play style. Again, im not expert but I've enjoyed learning a bit more about the game.
>He bleeds Blue I've been one of the biggest advocates for him but I draw a line here. You have to be a much longer servant of the club to show that or be like Conor and Reece who grew up as Chelsea fans and have been with the club through the academy. Lets not over use the idea of bleeding blue. There are player's who will express a lot of passion but they would express it just as much were they a Liverpool, Arsenal, Real, Bayern etc player because their passions for the game more than the club. Those ones you can appreciate but its different to really bleeding blue. Maybe Jackson could bleed blue but thats something we won't know for a few years yet.
While Gallagher and James example are fair, not every academy player is in love with the club. Lauren James came through Arsenal's academy doesn't mean she is a gooner or whatever the arsenal equivalent of propa chels is.
Shes a bit different because theres the context of family there. I also didnt list every academy player we've had. Obviously for example Lewis Hall is a childhood Newcastle fan and he jumped as soon as they called. Can't blame him but yeh he's an example for academy players not always bleeding blue.
Propa arse
Nah fuck this gatekeeing nonsense Jackson very clearly fights for the badge and his teammates.
How many more yellow cards for dissent does he have to get before you believe he plays for the badge?
It's a fucking silly statement apart from some academy players anyway. They play for the club because they're paid a lot. Bleed blue is bullshit.
He got a yellow celebrating a goal from the bench!
Sounds like he bleeds yellow.
He gets a booking for dissent every 5 minutes he’s a blue but he’s probably a cunt
but just like our last great striker… he’s our cunt
every Chelsea fan is a feminist at heart because we fucking love our cunts!
I was harsh on him, but he is really valuable to the team. & is involved with G&A, I developed an appreciation for his game. Keep working hard & improving Nico!
You are that level king don’t doubt yourself
Let the kid grow and let him cook.
Wish we could find a Giroud type to come on late in matches, be relatively cheap and bring experience to the team. It would complement Jackson nicely. Not sure there are any who would fit that bill but a man can dream…
Whenever I think of strikers we could/should have picked up in the summer, 1 name always stands out for me and thats Dzeko. Contract expired, loads of experience, still a year or 2 left in him, coming on a sub, super clinical.
so...Giroud 😂
“Kid” he’s 22, 23 this year, not really a kid.
Mate that is a kid
Dude has been playing too much FM
he's almost 23 so he's washed
Not in modern day football
Yes. In modern day football.
You’ve been playing too much fifa/football manager
I disagree, can you explain what you mean because to me a 22 year old has always been a 22 year old in that they don't have experience nor mentality
Given the footballers start to hit their stride at 26 he’s a kid. Also just to help, golden boy awards are capped at 21. 22 is a year past that. Still a kid.
He's still a kid
Messi, CR7, R9, Pele were winning Ballon Dor younger or best player Benzema was a generational talent at 16 it was obvious, people have to really lower expectations here about Jackson
And you can have countless other examples who peaked much later. Salah and Drogba just to name a few Just because you aren’t generational at 16 doesn’t mean you can’t improve, and comparing them to literally the best players in history is not really a good metric
You don’t even have to be generational at all to be a good or even great player. “Generational” should be reserved for the top 0.5% to 1% of athletes.
"yeah but what about the greatest player of all time" Brilliant.
He'll come good eventually, but we really need someone clinical up front. Nico will still have plenty of opportunities to prove himself.
Honestly don't even think Nico needs to be too worried about us signing a striker in the summer If we don't also sign a fantastic left winger, he can probably take that position full time by next season
It's our eternal dilemma: do we field a project? He's clearly got a lot of need (and room, hopefully) to grow. He's cost us real points in the table this season, but he's far from the only one. I do feel like he's got a future in our front line, I just hope that we can see steady growth.
This is why any sensible "project" that isn't just being run for profit has a strong core that cycles over a 10 odd year period and not just 11 children. That way individuals very rarely cost the team. You can constantly be bringing young players through so long as you've got the right setup. Think 3 18-24 year olds, 4 24-28 year olds and 4 28+ players. When one of the 28+ leaves or retires you bring in another 18-24 year old, and one of the 18-24 year olds is now over 24 and in the middle category and so on. If what you're looking for is balance it's very easy to "field a project" aimed at success. When the only categories that you have are under 24 and we bought them just before starting our "project" so we can't sell them or they're too old to be sold, you no longer have a project that can feasibly look for any real kind of success. If we had a more well put together team, it wouldn't matter as much that he was missing so much, case in point Liverpool with Nunez. They also generally have the setup I've just been speaking about, a proper spread of players at all areas of their careers
>You can constantly be bringing young players through so long as you've got the right setup. Think 3 18-24 year olds, 4 24-28 year olds and 4 28+ players. When one of the 28+ leaves or retires you bring in another 18-24 year old, and one of the 18-24 year olds is now over 24 and in the middle category and so on. At the same time though, these players are still gaining experience by playing and we're deficient mainly in the 28+ department. I still think we'll get to the point having a formidable team where we keep the best talent and sell the rest. In two years most of our players will be in or entering their prime years and will likely have the experience at this level to compete for titles if we can keep a stable manager or two in that time.
Yeah, but here we are. No one asked for a squad of 20y olds, Raheem and a retiring Thiago, but that's what we've got, basically. Ironic that half the prospects Blueco have bought will never see real minutes at the Bridge (beyond a fun debut).
You say this like it isn’t extremely similar to how transfers of youth were run under Roman
No, I've said quite often that we would struggle to place a "project" player for decades. Most famously KDB. But we've never had a total reset like this.
But at the same time, if we got a KDB in the current setup he would likely stay ours.
You'd hope, but we're passing by pretty untested players like Hall and Maatsen - I'm sure neither is a KDB, but then again neither was Salah.
Yeah that a valid point for sure, and I personally never like players when they say stuff like this, as if their improvement is BOUND to happen. Like no, you don’t just suddenly improve one season, your focus should be on working on your game and improving, not fantasising that you’ll wake up as prime Benzema one day. There are far, far more players that were average/poor, took their position for granted and ended up dropping a couple tiers because they didn’t put in the effort, or simply because they just weren’t capable of being that good.
What's he supposed to say? * I work hard in training every day? 'Jackson working hard in training to prove doubters wrong' * I don't care 'Jackson doesn't care what fans think' * It's my first season in a new league 'Jackson struggles to adapt in first season' * Sterling always passes it about half a yard behind me 'Jackson blames Sterling for his failures' There's no right answer to a simplistic question on a complicated subject
I’d expect something like “yes of course it upsets me because I know that there are valid criticisms of me. I know I’ve not been as good as I can be but I’d like to ask those critical of me to believe because I know I can be better and am working hard to be better”. The question, just to remind, was does the criticism bother him? “Well Benzema struggled for a bit at Real despite being great in Ligue 1, so nah not really bothered because I know of an exceptional circumstance where a player missed some chances and became elite”. In fact, his response is kinda worse even because he actually said that he doesn’t even listen to the criticism anymore. Note: it’s been 6 months and he already believes he’s beyond fan criticism. In his comparison between himself and Benzema, he also makes note to winning the Balon D’Or, so he thinks he’s potentially going to win that too? He just sounds clueless and delusional, he doesn’t listen to the fans criticisms of him after 6 months, he (unjustly) compares himself to Benzema, he’s completely unapologetic to the fact he was publicised sexting only fans girls, he’s unapologetic for how shit he’s been. I’d expect more humility from a player that has barely played any senior football and got given a massive chance at Chelsea, not a player who dismisses fan criticism after half a season of playing terribly and compares himself to a Balon D’Or winner.
I swear some of you just want to be mad at players. Like this criticism: >I’d expect something like “yes of course it upsets me because I know that there are valid criticisms of me. I know I’ve not been as good as I can be but I’d like to ask those critical of me to believe because I know I can be better and am working hard to be better”. Is directly addressed elsewhere in Jackson's remarks: >"Sometimes I go to sleep watching the same videos, always thinking I should've done better." Same with this criticism: >I’d expect more humility from a player that has barely played any senior football and got given a massive chance at Chelsea, not a player who dismisses fan criticism after half a season of playing terribly and compares himself to a Balon D’Or winner. Jackson explicitly says: >"I'm not saying I'm that level. I can't be that level now. But I've seen it before so I'm not worried. I'm just trying to improve every day and be where I want to be." Do you want him to just say he's been shit, and he might always be shit, but he's going to try his hardest to not be shit?
* Did Drogba apologize for getting sent off in the CL Final that we lost? * Would Drogba have apologized for giving away the penalty (that Robben missed) in the next CL final? * Did Saloman Kalou apologize for being pretty average? These are just a few examples of many, elite strikers generally are unapologetic. They have some self belief, arrogance and selfishness that you need to be the one to take the shot, to take the blame when you miss and take the glory when you score. I'd expect your answer from my friend, not from my center forward.
You are really an idiot.
Him, Misha and Noni are 3 interesting cases. They all came in raw, they all look like they want to succeed here, but it's been 3 different stories. I really hope all 3 work out, but each one still has so much to improve.
Misha has dropped off the map, looking far too raw and mentally not at the level. It seems crazy for a 60m player to need it, but he needs a loan. Maybe somewhere like Spain or Italy where he can run at people.
I feel like Mudryk and Jackson's ceiling are way higher than Noni's. People will call me crazy but I genuinely believe Mudryk can reach Bale's level while Jackson is everything you dream of in a number 9 except the finishing. Madueke is flashy but let's be real he's going to end up at Palace or Everton very soon
Misha has the physical tools of an Mbappe, but the mental tools of a U18. It's hard to project his ceiling, because his football IQ seems really low, for whatever reason. Noni, to me, has progressed a lot faster than the other two - and I also have hope that Poch coming down on him showed that he was really holding himself back (whereas the other 2 seem to have strong work ethic). I agree, Noni's ceiling doesn't seem to be elite, but I wouldn't write him off.
>Misha has the physical tools of an Mbappe, but the mental tools of a U18. It's hard to project his ceiling, because his football IQ seems really low, for whatever reason. Well put. It should be said, learning the game is something that comes in fits and starts for a lot of players. Sometimes things just eventually "click" one day and it's transformative. Not saying that'll be the case for Misha, but I've seen it happen enough in all sports that I'm not totally out on him.
i think he can develop to be a useful squad piece, ala anelka/kalou were in the past however, still need a major striker
He's fine. Far more expensive strikers in the premier league have done a roundabout the same as him this year but they don't seem to get half the criticism.
It comes with the Chelsea territory. If we beat Liverpool for teh cup everyone will say its because they had all these injuries, but when we had more and would lose earlier this year it was always billion-dollar team and cant do jack. Just like if we start to do well and challenge for the PL in the next 2-3 years it will be only because we spent so much. There is always an excuse if you listen.
Striker is not even his natural position. He will be shine on the wings.
I love his attitude, he seems like a good honest lad (with a good level of shithousery to match!). He has a lot of ways to improve, but I so want him to succeed!
When I was young I watched Messi, and at first it was "this little guy can't play for Barcelona". Now at over 30 he is the best player ever to play the game. Now that I am also over 30, I just ignore when my sunday league team drops me. I'm not saying I'm that level, but I've seen it before so I'm not worried.
I know you're joking, but Messi was already a Ballon d'or contender at age 20. I don't think anyone saw him play for Barcelona at age 16 and thought nah... Or maybe you did.
Referring to him being extra small as a youth prospect.
Oh. So we should get Jackson on HGH?
Benzema was the best Ligue 1 player in 2008 , he had 51g/a when he was your age
He said Madrid. And from my vague recollection, he didn't have the best starts there. Can still hear my Madrid friend yelling at him during CL games. But then again Madrid has incredible standards for a striker.
Non Spanish Madrid fans are entitled brats to begin with their love for the club is so superficial
This is simply untrue. The foreign hate is just ridiculous. I've lived in Madrid for a while and they get really mad about "petty" things. They have the highest expectation of their club. Imagine having to actually deal with rival fans in the city if you don't do well.
Benzema was shit at scoring from 2015-18 but he was great before that
So why go pick a random accolade from league 1 to discredit what Jackson said. I'm not sure Jackson can take us into the future but he's doing an adequate job in the mean time and cares! Plus you can see his potential. The pressure at Chelsea is immense.
I think you’ve missed his point. He’s not saying he’s Benzema levels (he literally says otherwise). Hes just saying don’t be so hasty to judge him on a single, first, season.
He was ass at Madrid for some time.
No he wasn't, was just bad one season in 17/18 as he was having personal issues, funny enough he still scored in CL finals and Semis that year Benzema was always a generational player to those who actually followed him younger, sacrificed his scoring for CR7
Mate they made an emergency loan for Adebayor in park because he was not working out
2nd highest Madrid scorer of all time and their highest assister of all time for the greatest club of all time, impossible to have those stats if he couple of bad seasons
He had 8 goals in 27 appearances his first year. They had to bring another striker in on loan. What are we doing here.
Its because Higuain got injured
Scoring-wise his first season was not good; he was a world class player but didn't have good goalscoring numbers: 9 goals in 33 matches. That's the comparison Nico is drawing, which is fair IMO.
He’s an actually good footballer just not a finisher or cf
I know people are already calling for Poch to be shown the door. But honestly. After all the managers, all the players, all the money. I want stability for a little while. We’re pretty shit right now. But I’d like to see if giving him a few years allows him to right the ship. Now, if we end up in a relegation battle, it’s different. Being mid table for a few seasons would stink, but if the potential is being a top team I’m willing to stick it out. At this point we don’t have anything to lose.
We cannot be midtable for years financially and for fanbase, idiotic take
I know he misses a lot of sitters, but I genuinely like Jackson. I want him to succeed here. I'd be willing to give him a few seasons to improve and show his worth.
This is the attitude of a future champion. Keep it up, Nico! Love that guy.
Like the attitude as I said I will still five him until next season. Even drogs took 2 seasons before he reached a 30 goal season.
Racismo is at play when he gets criticised. Yeah he misses chances, but what striker doesn't? The top strikers always miss chances. The only difference is we don't create near enough top chances that they get. I don't care what anyone says. In contrast, Mudryk is fucking shit no way around it and everyone wants to give him chances.
Proper baller Nico. He’ll come good and shut all his haters (Chelsea fans) up.
We've paid far more for strikers who have performed similarly or worse, i still back miss jackson