“He does not play Chelsea pattern of Football and Mouricio Pochettino keeps playing regardless of his silly mistakes that costs us the FA cup yesterday-Lampard criticises Chelsea star for not being ‘at the level’ after FA Cup defea
Following his performance in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City, Frank Lampard believed Nicolas Jackson was not on Chelsea’s level.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team will be scratching their heads after missing out on next month’s final after squandering multiple opportunities to take the lead against City at Wembley Stadium.
Jackson squandered three clear-cut chances for Chelsea, including a close-range header in the second half that he sent directly at City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
“Poor day at the office for him,” Alan Shearer observed during the BBC’s post-match appraisal of Jackson’s performance.
‘It’s been a similar theme for Chelsea all season; you heard Poch before the game say that he believes they should be in or around fourth place [in the Premier League], but due to the xG, this is precisely what he’s talking about.
‘Jackson had three fantastic opportunities, two of which were one-on-ones, and he never seemed comfortable. He made the incorrect choice, made some very great runs, but he never looked at ease.
‘They’re perfect sitters, they truly are. He just never moved the ball away from his foot, resulting in three excellent opportunities for him.
Lampard, for his part, sympathized with Jackson but believes the 22-year-old did not perform to the level required of Chelsea’s primary striker.
‘I feel for him a little bit because he made a lot of good movement, he’s a young striker, the attributes we saw in him today where he’s racing Kyle Walker, he’s shown pace, he’s shown good movement, but there’s a technical detail there, the extra touch, the decision making at the highest level in these high-level games,’ Lampard said.
‘The header, struck anywhere except his body, is a goal. Little decision-making, I feel for him; we’ve all been there, wasted opportunities, and this is a key one for the game.
‘But as a young player, it is the level required to be a striker for Chelsea.’
