Manager and pundit Alan Pardew has now claimed that he was really not impressed with the attackers Chelsea used from the start and off the bench during the League Cup final yesterday.
He told TalkSPORT that he was particularly disappointed with the performance of Nicolas Jackson, with the Blues going another big game against Liverpool goalless.
Jackson faced the tough task of competing with Virgil van Dijk for the majority of the afternoon, with the Dutchman eventually being the difference between the two teams.
For the most part, the 22-year-old worked hard and got about as much joy as anyone has done up against him in recent years. Gary Neville even said that he believed the defender didn’t enjoy his job.
This did not seem to be enough for everyone though, with Pardew saying he set the tone for a string of poor displays up top.
Pardew not impressed by Jackson
He said: “Chelsea’s strike force today was poor. Nicolas Jackson was poor. The substitutions that they have spent a lot of money on were so poor; Noni Madueke, Mykhailo Mudryk, Christopher Nkunku, they were all really poor when they came on.”
Manager Mauricio Pochettino now faces the tough task of picking himself and his players up from the damning defeat, with them back in action in just two days’ time.
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The boss missed another opportunity to break his duck of not winning a trophy in English football to this date.
Again, a big defeat has seen some supporters lose faith in the boss, and want the club to replace him at the helm.
Ally McCoist this morning had his say on the matter, with him stating that the club should keep the Argentine in his role.
It does feel as if he is going to need to provide an extremely strong end to the campaign for him to remain in the job for the long-term.
