# Mauricio Pochettino Urges Chelsea to Stick by Nicolas Jackson After Alan Shearer Criticism
Nicolas Jackson has had a difficult start to his Chelsea career, scoring just two Premier League goals since his £32 million move from Villarreal in the summer. After Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Brentford last Saturday, Alan Shearer criticised Jackson for his ‘lack of movement’ and said the Chelsea striker looks ‘very raw and unsure’.
Mauricio Pochettino has now urged Chelsea to stick by Jackson, describing Shearer’s analysis as ‘dangerous’ and insisting the 22-year-old needs more time at the club.
## Shearer’s Criticism of Jackson
When analysing Jackson’s performance after Chelsea’s defeat to Brentford at Stamford Bridge, Shearer said: ‘To be more prolific you have to get yourself into scoring positions. There was a complete lack of movement from him [Jackson] today. He looks very raw and at times unsure what to do. You’ve got to make defenders work. Goalscorers don’t hang around on the edge of the box like he does. It’s his job to get on the end of it.’
## Pochettino’s Response
Pochettino confirmed he has seen Shearer’s analysis but has described it as ‘dangerous’ and insists Jackson needs needs more time at Chelsea.
‘I think that Nico, if you watch the game against Liverpool or Dortmund in pre-season, or Luton, he was doing what the analysis was about and what we expect. But for different circumstances, Nico is not at his best today. For different circumstances, but we need to recover the player that was,’ Pochettino said.
‘It’s really dangerous, this type of analysis, because it’s one game. I cannot lie, it wasn’t his best, but we need to be fair. If you watch Luton, if you watch Dortmund in pre-season, if you watch Liverpool, you will see this is one player. The Brentford game was another player. I agree with the analysis, but it’s not fair to say he is not capable of doing what we expect of him.’
Pochettino believes Jackson needs time to adjust to his new surroundings and believes the striker has the potential to succeed at Chelsea.
‘I believe in him. The only problem is time. I don’t want to give examples, but he arrived at Chelsea in a situation that is not easy for him. Maybe players with more time than Nico, they are not performing in the way that we expect. We need to give time, for sure he has the conditions. Nico is young, he arrived this season, circumstances didn’t help him perform at his best. What can we do? Throw him in the bin and say he is useless? Come on, we need to give him confidence.’
## Final Thoughts
It remains to be seen whether Nicolas Jackson can live up to expectations at Chelsea, but it is clear that Mauricio Pochettino believes in the 22-year-old and is willing to give him time to adjust and develop. It will be interesting to see how Jackson progresses over the coming months and whether he can prove Alan Shearer wrong and become a key player for Chelsea.
For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.