‘Stupid’: Nicolas Jackson
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Former Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi has issued a savage assessment of Nicolas Jackson's red card as the Blues lost to Flamengo in the Club World Cup.
Pedro Neto gave Chelsea the lead somewhat against the run of play in the first half, only to collapse in the Philadelphia heat after the break as Bruno Henrique, Danilo and Wallace Yan all scored.
Jackson was brought on with the scores level, replacing Liam Delap, but could do little about Danilo's goal one minute later and then, just three minutes after that, racked his studs down Ayrton Lucas' shin.
The referee immediately brandished a straight red card and Jackson left the pitch with little complaint. Speaking on DAZN after the game, Mikel was in disbelief.
"It's unbelievable, unbelievable. A stupid, stupid, stupid mistake. I don't know what's going through his head. You come into into the game, your team needs to get back into the game, and he does that
"He did that in the [Premier] League game at Newcastle, a very important game where we need to win to qualify for the Champions League [which Chelsea lost]. He got a red card, and now he's done it again. You can't keep making mistakes."
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Asked if Jackson was perhaps reacting to frustrations at being named on the bench, Mikel replied: "I don't care what his frustration is. It's a football club. It's a massive football club, Chelsea Football Club, and it's about competition.
"If you're angry, if you pissed off that Delap is coming to the football club, he's gonna be the competition with you. As a player you must embrace it, because the only way to be successful and to win trophies is to be together as a team."