11 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Directors answer? Look at an unproven 19 year old who mostly has played wide from Bayern. Lol

Or the 21 year old who's only good game of the season was against us. 

15 hours ago, Liam said:

I think Jim's second and third sentences were equally bang on the money.

Jackson has strengths. He keeps the opposition's centre halfs busy, he can press effectively, he can take the ball on the half turn, he has a respectable number of goal involvements.  Unfortunately he is a poor finisher, decision maker and is prone to brainlessness.

Given the options available, an increasingly underwhelming Nkunku and a naive Guiu, I can see why Maresca persists with him. Ideally we would have a proper centre forward and play Jackson on the left where he would be most effective. 

A question for you. Is it acceptable to repeatedly call him a c**t and appear to celebrate his misses more than his goals?

Summarised it perfectly. 

 

9 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Indeed. He is a left winger playing up front.

I keep reading this. Just because this was his original position, where is there any evidence that he has any of the attributes that a proper winger has?

46 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

We are the Palmer and Jackson show when it comes to goal scoring, with very little contribution from anyone else. If either of them falls off, then we really struggle. 

(Noni in third place with 5, of which 3 came in our 2nd game of the season against Wolves.  Very little output from him since.)

I think we have some potentially good goal-scoring options in other positions within the squad to help address this but Maresca won't use them (e.g. Nkunku, Felix, Guiu, Chukwuemeka, Casadei, Disasi, Veiga, Chilwell), plus he sent Sterling, Chalobah and Santos on loan, all of whom have more goals in them in their position than the players he retained)

For me this is more of the issue I have than with Jackson himself. 

We should have someone else able to pick up the slack now and then so we are not reliant on him and Palmer all the time cause ultimately most people in this team are pretty much learning on the job and still developing including Jackson

1 hour ago, Blue_Boy said:

I stil think that it would make a world of diference if we go and buy Šeško and let them fight it out for starting no. 9. 

This is bang on and hilarious in equal measure. Buy Sesko is bang on the money, the fighting it our bit made me smile though. This is a guy that can strike a ball.

55 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

We are the Palmer and Jackson show when it comes to goal scoring, with very little contribution from anyone else. If either of them falls off, then we really struggle. 

(Noni in third place with 5, of which 3 came in our 2nd game of the season against Wolves.  Very little output from him since.)

I think we have some potentially good goal-scoring options in other positions within the squad to help address this but Maresca won't use them (e.g. Nkunku, Felix, Guiu, Chukwuemeka, Casadei, Disasi, Veiga, Chilwell), plus he sent Sterling, Chalobah and Santos on loan, all of whom have more goals in them in their position than the players he retained)

Jackson has cost us the past 5 games but you are right, the others aren't chipping in. 

I like Sancho but how many goals are you going to get from him really? Pedro the same, Madueke is who I'm most disappointed in and his lack of consistency. 

Felix and Nkunku both have goals to their game and Maresca won't give them game time. You don't even need to play Nkunku up front, you can put him in behind Jackson with Palmer on the right, mix it up a bit. 

At least Pochettino tried to mix the attack up every now and then. Maresca has his favourites, Nkunku and Felix are both severely underplayed at this point. 

The long term answer for Jackson in his career might be to go out on the wing or play behind a more natural finisher. 
 

Showed in the build up for Palmer that his running and pulling of CB’s was really good. 
 

It’s just his finishing and ‘strikers instinct’ is, politely, the absolute worst in the league and is costing us at the moment. It’s not his fault Maresca doesn’t fancy Nkunku or Guiu but also as a professional footballer he HAS to do better with at least half the chances he gets.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

We are the Palmer and Jackson show when it comes to goal scoring, with very little contribution from anyone else. If either of them falls off, then we really struggle. 

(Noni in third place with 5, of which 3 came in our 2nd game of the season against Wolves.  Very little output from him since.)

I think we have some potentially good goal-scoring options in other positions within the squad to help address this but Maresca won't use them (e.g. Nkunku, Felix, Guiu, Chukwuemeka, Casadei, Disasi, Veiga, Chilwell), plus he sent Sterling, Chalobah and Santos on loan, all of whom have more goals in them in their position than the players he retained)

The goals scored and created from our team is nothing short of diabolical outside Paler and Jackson.

The fact Desasi has scored the same number of goals as Felix and Neto is criminal. Sancho for all his footwork has terrible numbers and Noni should be sold in January if he is going to play like a spoilt brat. 

Without Palmer and Jackson we wouldnt even be near top four. Imagine CFC without those two and we'd be relegated. Yes Jackson had some terrible moments but at lest he keeps turning up to miss them and doesnt give up. As opposed to Felix, Nkunku, Sancho, Fernandez, Noni who have simply been gash. 

It was a terrible decision to sack poch when this team were on the up under him. from title contenders to also rans in five games and Maresca is saying we;re ahead of schedule and not title winners yet. There's a club in North London who likes a bottlers skillset. 

11 minutes ago, bluetrooper said:

The goals scored and created from our team is nothing short of diabolical outside Paler and Jackson.

The fact Desasi has scored the same number of goals as Felix and Neto is criminal. Sancho for all his footwork has terrible numbers and Noni should be sold in January if he is going to play like a spoilt brat. 

Without Palmer and Jackson we wouldnt even be near top four. Imagine CFC without those two and we'd be relegated. Yes Jackson had some terrible moments but at lest he keeps turning up to miss them and doesnt give up. As opposed to Felix, Nkunku, Sancho, Fernandez, Noni who have simply been gash. 

It was a terrible decision to sack poch when this team were on the up under him. from title contenders to also rans in five games and Maresca is saying we;re ahead of schedule and not title winners yet. There's a club in North London who likes a bottlers skillset. 

I think Nkunku and Felix would be contributing much more if they were actually permitted to play !

And I'd say the same for Chukwuemeka too.

The main players that don't contribute enough goals for me are the three wingers, plus Fernandez, who has free licence to join the attack, but is ineffective.  Factor in the lack of aerial threat from the centre backs at corners, and this strange Maresca tactic to have Cucurella and Gusto popping up as #10s ... probably the two players in the squad who are least likely to score from any chances they may get, and we are where we are !

28 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

I think Nkunku and Felix would be contributing much more if they were actually permitted to play !

And I'd say the same for Chukwuemeka too.

The main players that don't contribute enough goals for me are the three wingers, plus Fernandez, who has free licence to join the attack, but is ineffective.  Factor in the lack of aerial threat from the centre backs at corners, and this strange Maresca tactic to have Cucurella and Gusto popping up as #10s ... probably the two players in the squad who are least likely to score from any chances they may get, and we are where we are !

That itself is also an issue because that's not how Fernandez should be used, he's not very good in front of goal. 

We should buy a proven striker now in this transfer window, move Jackson out to the left wing when he does play and address it again in the summer if it’s not working.

Jackson would probably score more than Sancho from the left and a top level striker will outscore Jackson with the chances we create.

Got to be worth a try if we really want to get into the top 4.

23 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

I think Nkunku and Felix would be contributing much more if they were actually permitted to play !

And I'd say the same for Chukwuemeka too.

The main players that don't contribute enough goals for me are the three wingers, plus Fernandez, who has free licence to join the attack, but is ineffective.  Factor in the lack of aerial threat from the centre backs at corners, and this strange Maresca tactic to have Cucurella and Gusto popping up as #10s ... probably the two players in the squad who are least likely to score from any chances they may get, and we are where we are !

With you on Nkunku, still unsure of Felix. But the midfield has to chip in with goals. 

Noni had the beating of his fullback last night and didnt do enough of it. The guy has the ability to be a star in this side. Very frustrating given his ability, he really needs to kick on the second half of the season. 

Thought last night would be a difficult game given our form, we nearly lost it. Dont get me wrong, Im a Jackson fanboy but he had one of those frustrating games. The guy needs some composure - needs to try the Ronaldo breathing trick to keep calm and level headed but it it was all on show last night with him. He was brilliant in his approach play but let down by wayward finishing. 

We salvaged a point from a potential 3. 

Someone said it on the game forum last night, the turning point in game momentum once again came from a wayward pass from Sanchez out of goal and he's actually been in really good form of late. 

Anyhow, frustrating game last night but some signs of life from it to take into the next fixture. 

 

Osimhen would bully everyone in the current role Jackson is playing, just saying.

2 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

I keep reading this. Just because this was his original position, where is there any evidence that he has any of the attributes that a proper winger has?

When was the last time he played on the left wing? He is NOT a left winger. He is a centre forward. That is where he plays and that is his favoured position. End of story.

Jackson is often poor, but I thought he was fairly decent yesterday. He created a good goal, and his hold up and build up play was good. He also hit the post with a good run and shot. The header was downward and was a good save and he just couldn't react fast enough to the rebound, it happens. The one before that which he put over, maybe shuold do better with, but it was an awkward height to hit first time. There were far worse players out there.

Unfortunately I can’t defend him anymore, misses too many chances. If he takes one of his chances every game we win those games as more likely than not his chances put the games to bed.

He should be an understudy to a main man. 

This is why it’s so baffling that Christo wasn’t first choice.

4 hours ago, Nibs said:

When will we learn.

Us relying on Jackson, is like Liverpool pinning all their hopes on Darwin Nunez. But Liverpool saw his short-comings so have a sh*t load of other options (and they have a great keeper too).

All the time we insist on playing Jackson as our main striker and the clown Sanchez in goal, we will continue to fail.

 

I would take Darwin over wacko in a heartbeat

6 minutes ago, nonotnowjim said:

I would take Darwin over wacko in a heartbeat

And he's been dead for 140 years!

2 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

And he's been dead for 140 years!

Knew his lizards from his birds that lad though. Very important in modern football.

11 minutes ago, El regreso said:

Unfortunately I can’t defend him anymore, misses too many chances. If he takes one of his chances every game we win those games as more likely than not his chances put the games to bed.

He should be an understudy to a main man. 

This is why it’s so baffling that Christo wasn’t first choice.

If he has any saving grace, and Jim might disagree, it is that he is generally willing to put the effort in and will try to press throughout. He does show glimpses of skill upon occasion and the work for Palmer's goal was one such example. But technically he just is not good enough. Its as simple as that. I was going to draw comparisons to Demba Ba, Loic Remy, Kalou-less etc, but i can't even do that as all of these players are still better footballers with better basic attributes than Jackson. Perhaps the nearest would be Ba actually.

We have to get a striker that can influence games by being a presence up top, even when not scoring, to occupy defenders and make them wary, allowing space for our attack. Whilst these alternatives are still not good enough for a CL or title charge, i have still looked covetously at Semenyo and Mateta in the last two games. Both, in the right setting would be considerably more beneficial to our attack than Jackson.

The Jackson debate is ridiculous.  Jackson is a good young centre forward.  He holds the ball up well, chases down everything, he is 100% effort, even dyes his hair blue, etc. Problem is his finishing - at this level IF a striker get 3 chances in a game - he has to score at least one of them.  NJ doesn't always do that.  This is because that that level of 'football intelligence' takes time to develop.  On the plus side, NJ is hardly ever offside this season, compared to previous seasons. Therefore he is lurning. He is getting better.  The club needs to sign another striker - Mark Gui is too young and needs a loan.  The other options and the idea of a false nine etc. Are not suitable.  NJ needs another striker to compete for a place with in the starting line-up. It is pretty obvious really.  Healthy competition.  But yes, we should keep NJ around, because he is a good player.

On 14/01/2025 at 07:19, just said:

Torres came good? When did that happen? Isolated moments, OK, one of which was very important. But to say he came good in a Chelsea shirt is wildly overreaching.

He was a worthy player during the last half of his stint, and if he wasn't scoring, he at least put a shift in a lot of the time! A different player to his Liverpool days and a shocking start with the price tag and alleged injury affecting him massively! But I wouldn't say he was out and out sh*t for us!

On 14/01/2025 at 07:19, just said:

But what about Jackson, Mod. Do you think he is a good enough centre-forward to get us back among the elite? 

Nowhere near! I feel sorry for him as he really wanted to be our new Drogba! I think the last 5 prem results are on him to an extent! If Drogba/Costa/Anelka/Jimmy etc get those chances, it's more than likely a goal every time! We are then 3-0 up and the opposition is on the back foot all game!

We start well, get a goal and then Jacko misses a few clear chances which then puts the onus on the other team to come at us and get back into the game! It's been the same since we went from second place to absolute sh*te!

Jacko would be a decent player behind an elite-proven striker!

2 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

The Jackson debate is ridiculous.  Jackson is a good young centre forward.  He holds the ball up well, chases down everything, he is 100% effort, even dyes his hair blue, etc. Problem is his finishing - at this level IF a striker get 3 chances in a game - he has to score at least one of them.  NJ doesn't always do that.  This is because that that level of 'football intelligence' takes time to develop.  On the plus side, NJ is hardly ever offside this season, compared to previous seasons. Therefore he is lurning. He is getting better.  The club needs to sign another striker - Mark Gui is too young and needs a loan.  The other options and the idea of a false nine etc. Are not suitable.  NJ needs another striker to compete for a place with in the starting line-up. It is pretty obvious really.  Healthy competition.  But yes, we should keep NJ around, because he is a good player.

I agree. Guiu is a great prospect and can be used in some cup matches against weaker opposition. But I don't think he is ready to start in the Premier League. We need a more experienced player who can help to mentor Jackson. I would love to see us go for somebody like Mbuemo but there is no chance we will be signing an older player with our operating model.

3 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Osimhen would bully everyone in the current role Jackson is playing, just saying.

Shots on target - Jackson 47.4% Osimhen 39.3%

Goals per shot - Jackson 0.16 Osimhen 0.13

xG differential - Jackson -2.2 Osimhen -1.5

Underlying metrics seem to show he's just as wasteful, he just takes more shots. We may as well save 100m and tell Jackson to simply shoot more, or buy a good striker.