MAURICIO POCHETTINO does not want to see the Jackson 5 this weekend.
Chelsea’s hot-headed striker Nicolas Jackson is on four bookings — three for dissent and one for arguing with the opposition — so is just a caution away from a ban when he faces Aston Villa on Sunday.
Boss Pochettino reckons back-chat Jacko could become as good as Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr — if he curbs his lip.
He, along with midfielder Enzo Fernandez, even pulled Jackson to one side, to warn that his behaviour is threatening the team’s fragile morale.
Poch revealed: “I talked to him today. We were talking about that. We had a meeting with him and Enzo.
“I said ‘come on, for a striker to have four yellow cards, to protest, to talk with the referee. You need to get some yellow cards for different actions not because of that’.
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“It’s so easy, so cheap. He could put the team in a really difficult situation.
“He understood. But Jackson is 22, he is young, he needs to learn, to improve.
“He is going to be a fantastic player, but he needs time.
“We were talking about players and I like to make similarities with another club. Jackson is a fantastic player but he needs to be relaxed in front of goal.
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“Remember, Vinicius arrived and only after three seasons or two seasons and a half and started to perform.
“Always we forget we are talking about young players. Maybe it’s because it’s his normal behaviour on the pitch, something he has to improve. This season they changed the rules.”
Frustrated Jackson has scored only one Prem goal since his £30million move from Villarreal in the summer.
Poch added: “He came from Spain where it’s a different relationship with the referees. He needs to be clever, not to protest to the referees.
“I hope on Sunday we are talking about him being clever — not that his first action is a yellow card!”
Chelsea are languishing in 14th but Pochettino said: “You can blame me or blame us and you can talk about tactics but they need time.
“There’s no doubt we have amazing talent but they need time to settle and, for sure, they will start to perform in the way we expect.”
Midfielder Moises Caicedo, who joined in a British record £115m deal this summer, has had a knee injury but will be assessed in training tomorrow before Pochettino decides if he can feature.
Blues winger Noni Madueke has recovered from a virus.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
