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Pundit Craig Burley has slammed Nicolas Jackson for his performance in Chelsea's 5-0 defeat against London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates on April 23.
The Gunners hammered the Blues in the Premier League on Tuesday. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring in the fourth minute before Kai Havertz (57', 65') and Ben White (52', 70') scored a brace each. It was another comprehensive performance for Arsenal and another disappointing defeat for the visitors.
Nicolas Jackson had two brilliant opportunities to score for Chelsea, one in each half, for the visitors but missed them both. He completed 17/22 passes, won 7/14 duels, completed 2/3 dribble attempts, and also hit the post once.
After the game, Craig Burley slammed Jackson's lack of finishing ability and also claimed that the striker lacks any other aspect of his game. He said on ESPN FC:
“It’s crystal clear that he [Jackson] is not a natural finisher. But there’s no real other facets to his game that are advantageous as well. He’s quick, but when you’re not a really good finisher, there has to be other factors as well.
“When you’re looking at players to sign them for a club, he may not score 30 goals a season, maybe he’ll score only 15, but there has to be other parts to his game that he’s going to bring to this team."
Burley claimed that it was a bad recruitment on the club's part to sign Jackson, adding:
“To me, Nico Jackson is limited in every facet apart from being quick to get in behind. And yet somebody [at Chelsea] looked at him when he was playing for Villarreal and went, ‘this guy can lead the line for us’.
“He’s not a link-up player, he’s not going to pass the ball, and when the ball does come into the box, he looks frightened of it. That is just bad recruitment.”
The west London side signed Jackson from Villarreal for a reported fee of €35 million last summer. He has recorded 13 goals and five assists in 38 games across competitions and has been guilty of missing many gilt-edged chances.
Arsenal continue their title challenge while Chelsea suffer blow in European hopes
Arsenal came into the game on the back of a good 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers after a run of three winless games. They started off well with Trossard and maintained their dominance throughout.
Chelsea had 56% possession in the game but just seven attempts on goal with one being on target. Arsenal, on the other hand, had 27 attempts with 10 being on target. It was a brilliant performance from the Gunners, who are still in the hunt for the Premier League title.
Arsenal currently sit atop the league standings, sitting three points above Liverpool, who have a game in hand. Manchester City are six points behind the Gunners, having played two fewer games.
Chelsea, meanwhile, remained ninth in the table. They are three points behind sixth-placed Newcastle United and seventh-placed Manchester United.
