Once again, John Obi Mikel has jumped to criticise Chelsea’s squad builders for not signing another striker.
This is a real area of neglect. To think they can simply rely on Nicolas Jackson alone to lead the line and provide us with what we need up top has been simply ludicrous in my view, and I’ve been saying this for years.
Marc Guiu looks good but he is too raw and needs a loan move. And if one more person tells me Christopher Nkunku is a striker, I may explode!
Go and sign a striker who is a different profile to Jackson, one who provides genuine competition and another option to Jackson. Why is that so hard after all these years?
Anyway, Mikel will probably get criticised by some for ‘going in’ on Jackson yet again, but he has made some good points below and actually, he is criticising the decision makers at the club rather than Jackson so much, even if a bit.
Mikel says:
“He (Nicolas Jackson) is not scoring enough, he puts himself in the right positions and then isn’t finishing, he doesn’t score enough. He’s not a striker who’s going to get us top 4 or win us titles, he’s not that striker, I don’t think he can get us over the line, he’s good on the ball and link up but he’s not scoring enough.
“If we had Victor Osimhen or the guy from Sporting, [Viktor] Gyokeres, we’d still be competing for the league. Maresca needs to talk to Jackson and get his confidence back, he’s not scoring enough. Start scoring and tell me to shut up again!
“Roman Abramovich explained to [Didier] Drogba “you are the man, but injuries might come, dip of form, what are we going to do then?” Nicolas should not be angry I’m saying this, it’s for the betterment of the team and club.
“Roman every year brings in another top striker, we had [Nicolas] Anelka come in to help Drogba, [Fernando] Torres, [Andriy] Shevchenko.
“We need someone who knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The point about Roman always wanting two TOP striker options is the best point he’s made here, and in a long while. Spot on.
Jackson has improved his goal-scoring and finishing this season, that cannot be doubted. He also does have a lot to offer. But if we are talking Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka as Mikel is above, then Jackson is an Anelka and not a Drogba. We need our Drogba now. I actually loved watching these two together be the way, they were lethal. Jackson will always be a wide player rather than a central player for me. No idea why the club don’t see that. They actually do though, I’m sure, as they do want to sign a new striker. But how it’s taken this long I have no idea.
Full show here for anyone who wishes to watch:
Simon Phillips
