“Like Kai Havertz” – Pundit calls Chelsea star a cup player in harsh criticism | OneFootball

Craig Burley laid into Chelsea’s performance against Bournemouth on Tuesday night, and doubled down on with more criticism of Nicolas Jackson this week.

The striker missed a few chances against the Cherries, and now has gone 5 games without scoring. Chelsea have not won any of those games. It’s a long way from the red hot form that saw Jackson among the league’s top scorers back in the Autumn.

“There’s been more good than bad from Nicolas Jackson this season. Ultimately I think he’s a player, a bit like Kai Havertz at Arsenal, who would be good at coming off the bench or playing in cup games,” Burley said on his ESPN show.

“But you need a top No.9 and then you have him on the side. He’s having a decent season but I’m sure Enzo Maresca will need to address that position among others.”

Harsh judgement on Jackson ignores great progress this season

Nicolas Jackson celebrates opening the scoring against Leicester. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

That seems very harsh to us. We were really impressed by Jackson earlier in the season, and we saw more than enough from him to show that he can be a starter for Chelsea. In fact, many people were saying he was among the best strikers in the Premier League. He’s certainly not among the most clinical or the most natural finishers, but in terms of all round package, how many are better? How many are his age and better?Not many.

What we do need is an alternative, to play when Jackson is in a rut like he is now, to play alongside him when we need a goal, or to replace him when he’s tiring.

That won’t be an easy player to find – but the sporting directors have had 18 months to work on it, so surely they must be close to a solution now.