Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has sent a brutal message to striker Nicolas Jackson after claiming he should have scored two hat-tricks against Tottenham on Monday. The Senegalese striker shrugged off his recent run of bad form by netting a second-half treble against Spurs in the 4-1 London Derby victory, but Pochettino has underlined the importance of the young striker not resting on his laurels.
Jackson has been guilty of squandering several gilt-edged chances this season and it almost proved to be the case against Spurs after twice being denied by Guglielmo Vicario in the first half. He also had a goal disallowed for offside and was in an offside position for Moises Caicedo’s goal when the ball went through his legs.
But after Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off either side of half time, the striker benefited from the hosts’ high line to find the net with three precise but close-range finishes.
The £32million signing from Villarreal has proved to be a polarising figure with fans, as it proved to be the case when he was confronted by a fan in the 2-0 defeat to Brentford. His treble at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has endeared him to them somewhat, given the importance of the win.
But Pochettino says Jackson must continue to improve after his hat-trick, as he made note of the chances he missed in addition to the opportunities he took.
“It’s easy to say ‘OK I scored three goals’,” Pochettino told reporters. “It’s a process. He’s still young, he needs to improve. OK, he scored three goals, but he should have scored six.
“The most important thing is to keep calm and relaxed and he is going to improve with time. Nights like Monday help him not to be too much nervous and approach a game in a different way.”
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