Chelsea fans had to endure yet another disappointing Premier League result over the weekend, as the team managed to drop two points at home to a ten-man Burnley side.
Mauricio Pochettino has unfortunately overseen plenty of shocking performances this season, but Saturday’s result is arguably the worst.
While Cole Palmer was once again the standout player for the Pensioners, there were plenty of terrible displays from his teammates, notably from Nicolas Jackson and one of the back four.
Jackson’s performance against Burnley
What was Jackson’s best performance this season? While there have been a fair few games in which the former Villarreal man has looked impressive, his best display was unquestionably away to Tottenham Hotspur. He brilliantly exploited the space left by their two red cards to score a Premier League hat-trick.
So, when he saw Lorenz Assingon see a second yellow card in just the 40th minute, he must’ve been licking his lips at the idea of 50 minutes against a relegation-threatened side reduced to ten men. Yet, he utterly failed to take advantage as the game progressed.
It’s not like he didn’t have the chances either. In his 95 minutes of action, the 22-year-old had two shots on target, a shot blocked, an expected goals figure of 0.74, missed two big chances, was offside twice, and took 24 touches.
|
Jackson’s game vs Burnley in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
95′ |
|
Expected Goals |
0.74 |
|
Shots on Target |
2 |
|
Shots Blocked |
1 |
|
Big Chances Missed |
2 |
|
Dribbles (Successful) |
3 (1) |
|
Accurate Passes |
10/12 (83%) |
|
Offside |
2 |
|
Possession Lost |
9 |
His performance certainly didn’t impress 90min’s James Cormack, who, rather generously, awarded him a 6/10 on the day, writing that he was ‘poor in the box.’
Ultimately, while Jackson has done reasonably well over the course of the whole season, racking up 12 goals and four assists in 33 games, his display against the Clarets just reaffirmed what many see as his biggest weakness: his profligate nature.
So, with chances much harder to come by against Manchester United tonight, he should be dropped to the bench alongside one of his defensive teammates.
Benoît Badiashile‘s performance against Burnley
Yes, the defender who started against Burnley on Saturday but should be starting on the bench against United tonight is Benoît Badiashile.
The match against Vincent Kompany’s side was Badiashile’s first start since the FA Cup Fourth Round Replay against Aston Villa in early February, and it really did show in his performance.
He never really looked comfortable at the back despite the relatively weaker opposition in front of him.
Like his Senegalese teammate, the Frenchman’s display certainly didn’t impress Cormack.
However, where the journalist was quite generous to the forward, he was not so to the former AS Monaco man, awarding him a 4/10 on the day and writing, ‘he was caught out at times positionally.’
This opinion is validated by the 23-year-old’s match statistics, as in his 95 minutes of action, the “dreadful” defender, as Gabriel Agbonlahor previously described him, lost 100% of his six duels.
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In all, it would make sense to drop him to the bench for tonight’s game and start Thiago Silva in his place. On the other hand, Jackson could be replaced by several changes, with potentially even Palmer starting up top.