Mauricio Pochettino using Mo Salah message to inspire struggling Chelsea star
Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson has hardly been lethal in front of goal this season, but the striker has made clear he isn’t concerned after some wise words from boss Mauricio PochettinoVideo Loading
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has cited Mohamed Salah’s Stamford Bridge struggles as inspiration for current Blues forward Nicolas Jackson.
Signed from Villarreal in the summer, Jackson has come in for his fair share of criticism so far this term having wasted a hefty number of glorious chances. However, he has also managed seven Premier League goals across 16 games, a tally which sees him sit inside the league’s top 10 highest scorers this season.
His latest strike came during Saturday’s 2-0 home win over struggling Sheffield United and went some way to ensuring the voices blasting his form grow softer. Following his £32million summer switch, Jackson has had to handle being Chelsea’s main man in the absence of the injured Christopher Nkunku and patchy fitness of Armando Broja.
With that in mind, Jackson explained how Pochettino has been looking to ease some of the pressure he may be feeling by comparing him to two former Chelsea talents. The striker claimed: “He has been with a lot of young players, so he motivates me every day and tells me to go and he has seen people worse than me [in the past] and they are now big players.
“[Kevin] De Bruyne was here and Salah was here. They struggled here and are now big players. They didn’t listen to people who don’t know football, he keeps telling me that. He knows football; they don’t know football, so I don’t listen to them.”
Collectively, it has been a desperately poor first four months of the season for Chelsea. The Blues languish all the way down in 10th, having lost seven of their opening 17 league games. However, a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Newcastle is next up and Jackson has insisted the west Londoners have plenty still to play for.
“We still believe,” he said. “We have just played 17 games. You cannot just jump from one to a hundred; you have to go step by step. For me, all the players here everybody has talent and can be there if they are good mentally.
“We have to forget about social media and just focus on ourselves and try to win games for the team. The coach is really, really helping us a lot.
“We believe in him and he believes in us because he has been with young players, and we are all young. That is not an excuse but we are still working to try and understand each other on the pitch and to win games.”
