The 0-1 loss to Aston Villa in round 6 of the Premier League caused Chelsea to drop to 14th in the rankings but with only 4 points more than the dangerous group. And at this rate, the Blues will quickly rush down to the red light area.
Let’s start with the moment striker Nicolas Jackson received a yellow card in the second minute of the second half of the match against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. It shows how difficult it is for new coach Mauricio Pochettino to convey his message to the Blues’ young team.Normally, a manager will always be most worried about his striker having trouble in front of the opponent’s goal. However, instead of that, Pochettino felt he had to pull Jackson aside during the warm-up to remind him of his lack of discipline on the field.
The 22-year-old striker has received 4 yellow cards in just 5 matches in the Premier League and Poch emphasized that he is not allowed to receive another booking. Because, receiving another yellow card in the match against Aston Villa will mean an automatic one-match suspension.
If only the Argentinian coach could predict the score of Chelsea’s match as accurately as he predicted, his warning about what Jackson would do in the match against Aston Villa would have been great. And, the immaturity of a young rookie fell into the trap of a scheming, spoiled goalkeeper like Emiliano Martinez.
Of course, the turning point of the match came precisely from Melo Gusto’s red card in the 58th minute, when the score was still 0-0. And, with a yellow card already picked up, Pochettino couldn’t risk keeping Jackson on the field any longer, even when the Blues needed to attack to score their first goal of September. Poch withdrew the Senegal striker, replaced by midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu. Because if Jackson receives another card, Chelsea will only play with 9 people against Aston Villa.Jackson has not met expectations. He has only scored 1 goal. But it was a goal against newly promoted Luton, helping Chelsea win only 1 match since the beginning of the season after 6 rounds. And, in the current injury climate, Jackson is still Poch’s most likely option.But Jackson will be absent from the west London derby against Fulham in the next round, forcing Pochettino to give a chance to Armando Broja, who was introduced at the end of the loss to Aston Villa and this is the first time he has returned to the field in 9 years. months of serious knee injury.
Not only worrying about the attack, Gusto’s suspension (possibly 3 matches) also causes big problems for Chelsea’s defense. The former Lyon player has played 6 matches in the Premier League this season with 5 starts and is quite stable with 2 assists since the beginning of the season. Who will replace Gusto on the right wing? This is not an easy task.Pochettino will not risk letting Reece James return too soon because he wants to avoid the risk of a knee injury recurring. And, no one other than James can play Chelsea’s right-back position at this time replacing Gusto…After the loss, Poch refused to criticize the club’s leadership and said that this was his and the players’ responsibility. The Argentine coach emphasized the need for his young army to grow together.