The manager of Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino said he has spoken with his new signing Nicolas Jackson over his incessant clash with referees during games.
The 22-year-old Senegalese striker who joined Chelsea from Spanish La Liga club Villarreal for a transfer fee worth €37 million on July 1, 2023, has scored only one Premier League goal in five games.
Despite the poor stats in terms of goalscoring, Nicolas Jackson is coach Mauricio Pochettino’s best option in the striking position thanks to the lack of quality options in the role due to an injury crisis.
To make matters worse for the Argentine coach, Jackson has already received four yellow cards in just five league games all because of negative behaviour towards referees.
Based on Premier League disciplinary procedure, the 22-year-old Senegalese striker will be banned for at least a game if he is yellow carded against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, September 24.
During the match’s pre-game press conference, Pochettino said he had a meeting with Nicolas Jackson over his behaviour towards referees, and urged him to be calm.
The coach said, “We had a meeting with him and also Enzo [Fernandez]. A striker, four yellow cards only for talking with the referee. It is so cheap and it is going to bring a difficult situation to the team.
“He understood. Jackson is young, he is going to be a fantastic player. He needs to be calm and relaxed.
“We are talking about young players, you can blame me or blame us but they need time.
“He needs to be clever and not protest to the referees.”
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino whose Chelsea team are not playing in the UEFA Champions League this season said he and his players are taking advantage of the free period.
Recall that last season, Chelsea finished in the 12th spot despite changing three coaches before the end of the season. Hence, they have only domestic competitions to play this season for the second time in 26 years.
Pochettino said, “The circumstances have given us time to work and we’ve had a really good week.
“It has been good to recover players from the international break.
“It’s a time that, of course, for the fans is difficult because they are used to being in Europe but we need to take advantage of the situation.”
