Mauricio Pochettino singled out Chelsea debutant Christopher Nkunku for special praise after the Blues fell to another lacklustre defeat at the hands of Wolves. Nkunku was introduced as a late substitute at Molineux and marked his arrival in the Premier League with a goal, but he was just about the only bright spark for Chelsea.
Goals from Mario Lemina and Matt Doherty secured all three points for the hosts, with Nkunku’s headed finish in stoppage time failing to inspire a late Chelsea comeback. Pochettino had plenty of reasons to be unhappy after the final whistle but was quick to praise Nkunku, who had an immediate impact for the Blues following months of injury turmoil.
“I’m very pleased to see Nkunku score and it shows how important he can be for us,” said Pochettino. “We cannot put too much pressure on him. He’s been out for a very long time and that is why he came on after 60 minutes, to help ease him in.
“He’s a quality player who can score goals and we are pleased he did that today, although of course we are disappointed not to win the game. Christo needs time to arrive in this way but we are very confident in him to get to his best and be a key player for us.”
Nkunku featured for Chelsea in pre-season but missed the start of the Premier League campaign after picking up a knee injury over the summer. He will be expected to play a leading role for the Blues from now on, with Pochettino in desperate need of a regular goalscorer at the top of the pitch.
Nicolas Jackson has been widely criticised for his poor showings in attack this season and was one of Chelsea’s worst performers against Wolves. The 22-year-old wasted a number of important chances to score, getting the ball caught under his feet on several occasions and being caught in two minds when it came to shooting at goal.
Pochettino, however, leapt to Jackson’s defence after the match by insisting that he is doing no worse than many other young strikers who have moved to the Premier League in recent years.
“It is always about expectation, how you manage expectation and set the expectation,” said the Chelsea boss. “If we compare Jackson to different strikers that arrive at his age to a new league, he is scoring goals when you look at his performances.
“It is not about blaming him. I think you can accept the frustration from the fans. It is about when we don’t score, [for] the offensive players, but I think we need to blame all together. My advice is to blame them all together because football is a team sport, a collective sport, we cannot blame only one.
“In this case, he is young, in the Premier League, the expectation is massive and we are Chelsea. At Chelsea, there is pressure to play and deliver the best job possible.”
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