Mauricio Pochettino urged to stick by Chelsea player who 'didn't like him'

23 August 2023 , 13:32

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Nicolas Jackson is yet to score his first Premier League goal (Image: Getty Images)

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink believes new Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has "got all the attributes" - despite a slow start to his Stamford Bridge career.

Jackson, 22, joined the Blues from Villarreal in June and looked lively during pre-season, but he's still waiting for his first Premier League goal. Mauricio Pochettino joked the £32million man "didn't like me" after deploying him as a lone striker against Liverpool.

Yet Chelsea legend Hasselbaink believes it's only a "matter of time" before Jackson opens his account. Hasselbaink spoke to Mirror Football before last weekend’s fixtures as an ambassador for LiveScore's Life-changing Goals campaign, which will see a £25 charity donation for every goal scored in the world’s top 25 leagues, as well as those scored at grassroots level shared on social media with #LiveScore25.

"Jackson is doing everything right," said Hasselbaink. "The only thing that he needs is a goal to get him off his mark and more confidence in him.

"He's got all the attributes. He's quick, he's strong. Now his challenge is to get consistency and make those performances the norm... but you can see that he's a confident person, you can see that he's not fazed by the challenge. The goals will just be a matter of time."

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Chelsea have struggled since Roman Abramovich sold the club to Todd Boehly's consortium just over a year ago. They finished 12th in the Premier League last season, as the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard all failed to get them going.

Pochettino was appointed by Chelsea earlier this summer and has been tasked with reviving their stuttering squad. The Blues have been the biggest spenders in Europe since Boehly's takeover, investing nearly £1billion.

Moses Caicedo is their latest signing after completing his £115million move from Brighton, with the Ecuadorian giving away a penalty on his debut against West Ham. That result came just a week after Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool.

Despite a tricky start to the Pochettino era, Hasselbaink is confident Chelsea will improve on last season's disappointing effort. "They had a really good pre-season, where they played a lot of really good matches as a team.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is an ambassador for LiveScore's Life-changing Goals campaign

Do you agree with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink? Let us know in the comments below!

"They had a difficult first 20 minutes (against Liverpool) but they came through it. That must give them confidence and encourage them. Overall, they were the better team and on a different day they might have nicked it, they might have won it... if they can maintain these kinds of performances, they will have a really successful season."

Yet Hasselbaink isn't thinking about silverware. "They've got so much work to do, and I don't think that you should put those kinds of things on them. They have to grow as a team. They've made the first few steps, very good steps, to get them (into) a strong unit.

"The thing is what happened last year can't happen again. Obviously, they want to finish as high as possible, but I think he needs to get his identity - his ideas - across first and then from there (it's about) getting stronger and stronger."

To get involved with LiveScore’s Life-changing Goals campaign, head to LiveScore's official social media channels to find out how you can share your goal with #LiveScore25 and #LifeChangingGoals.

Tom Blow