A short video of a deer dribbling a football with its antlers and scoring in an open net, before skipping away in celebration, was shared over the weekend by the “Nature is Amazing” social media account.
It was one of the many feel-good videos the account shares each day, predictably sparking hundreds of replies sharing other cute clips of different animals playing football.
Less predictable was that it would come part of the slush pile of social media abuse that has trailed Nicolas Jackson for days after he missed several key chances in Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City, with one user claiming the deer was better at finishing than the striker.
So is that it for Jackson? Should Chelsea bow to the social media driven football culture of short memories and snap judgements and sell?
In this case, the perception of the player from armchair outsiders appears some distance apart from those inside the game. And if history can tell us anything it’s that first seasons are often not indicative of the rest of a player’s career at a club.
There was, once upon a time, a summer when Chelsea signed a striker who only scored 10 Premier League goals in his first season. He probably escaped criticism because Facebook was still called Facemash, X/Twitter had not been invented, and Chelsea won the Premier League and League Cup that season. The player’s name was Didier Drogba. He ended up not doing too badly.
Not one of Drogba’s league goals that season were scored against a traditional “Big Six” club – three were against Middlesbrough, two against both West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth and others were scored against Birmingham City, Norwich City, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace. Meanwhile Jackson has scored against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
Another Chelsea forward signed that same summer 2004 as Drogba only scored nine goals in all competitions. That was Arjen Robben.
Would they have been subjected to the same ridicule two decades later?
For a more modern comparison turn to Darwin Nunez. Liverpool paid twice as much for the Uruguayan. In his first season he scored nine Premier League goals and recorded three assists in 29 games. In Jackson’s first he already has 10 league goals and four assists, and Chelsea still have seven games remaining.
In his first season Nunez missed more shots, missed more big chances and had a lower shooting accuracy. And while he is still yet to set the goalscoring charts on fire – he has one more Premier League goal than Jackson this season – Nunez has become something of a cult hero at Liverpool, for how hard he works, his contribution to the team, how many chances he goes for, even if many miss.
Nobody can – or should – suggest that Jackson, aged 22, was bought as a finished product. He was signed for £35m in July. As forwards joining elite clubs go, it was a snip.
According to The Transfer Index website, adjusting for football inflation Drogba’s fee would have been equivalent to £124m in today’s market.
Before moving to Chelsea, Jackson had barely any first-team experience – mainly a half-season at Villarreal when, for a very short period, he outscored Karim Benzema.
Yes, there are areas Jackson needs to improve. He has nine yellow cards this season – mainly for needless fouls – and it is an area Mauricio Pochettino, the Chelsea manager, has spoken to him about.
He also has a bad habit that he has carried from his early years of giving the impression he doesn’t work hard enough in training. These are things that can easily be rectified.
Chelsea are thought to be in the market for a No 9 this summer – with Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen two of the leading candidates to move clubs when the window opens.
But the club are thought to be happy with Jackson’s first season and the numbers behind it.
Any signing will add competition. Jackson spent plenty of his career playing as a winger or a No 10 and can contribute elsewhere.
Indeed, Pochettino spoke highly of “the way he fights for the club and teammates”.
“He has all my support, even if he doesn’t score,” the Chelsea manager added.
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