Pundit Paul Merson has claimed that one decision is “coming back to bite” Chelsea as one Blues star has “not been good enough” this season.
This season, Chelsea have been marred by inconsistency as they have suffered damaging losses against Manchester United, Brighton and Sunderland, though they have earned a statement win over Liverpool.
On Wednesday night, the Blues bounced back from the loss to Sunderland by beating Wolves 4-3 with ten men to progress in the Carabao Cup.
Head coach Enzo Maresca utilised his deep squad against Wolves, with summer signing Jamie Gittens getting on the scoresheet with Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estevao.
Chelsea have plenty of options in wide areas, though they have been short of strikers in recent weeks as Liam Delap’s injury has left Maresca with Joao Pedro and Marc Guiu as his No.9s.
Therefore, Chelsea may be regretting their decision to let Nicolas Jackson leave in the summer to join Bayern Munich on loan with an option to buy.
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Speaking earlier this month, ex-Premier League striker Teddy Sheringham explained why he thinks this was a “very strange decision”.
“I thought Chelsea made a very strange decision in letting Nicolas Jackson go out on loan to Bayern Munich,” Sheringham said.
“A top club needs the focal point of the team, the centre forward, to be someone who can lead the line and understand what the job required of him is.
“Jackson had been at the club for two years; he’s got experience and his goalscoring record had been improving.
“I was very surprised to see him leave and to see him discarded in the manner that he was by Enzo Maresca.
“He was a player who knew Maresca’s system well and could’ve helped Joao Pedro to gel into the team. Now they have Pedro and Delap, both of whom are still learning a new system and one injured.
“The timing of Delap’s injury was unfortunate, but I think it showed that Chelsea immediately regretted their decision to let Jackson go because they tried to call him back and he said no, which I thought was fair enough.”
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Now, Merson has argued that letting Jackson leave is “coming back to bite Chelsea” as Guiu has not been “good enough”.
“Up front, I think the decision to let Nicolas Jackson leave is coming back to bite Chelsea a bit,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“Marc Guiu wasn’t up to the task against Sunderland.
“To only touch the ball nine or 10 times when you are playing for a dominant team, that’s not good enough. Joao Pedro is also not training much as he manages an injury.
“It leaves Chelsea short, and I think it shows that squad is not as great as everyone makes out.”