Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson aims a four-letter jibe at his critics who ‘don’t know football’ – and reveals Mauricio Pochettino’s Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne advice

• Nicolas Jackson was back on the scoresheet this weekend as Chelsea won 2-0 
• The 22-year-old doesn’t listen to his critics but says he should have scored more 
• Round 2 to the Rooneys? WAGatha Christie goes to the pitch on Monday – It’s All Kicking Off

Nicolas Jackson has declared that he doesn’t care what his critics say about him, hitting them with the ultimate insult: they ‘don’t know about football’. 

However, he has admitted that he needs to score more goals after being brought in from Villarreal to lead Chelsea’s front line for £32million. 

The 22-year-old has managed a respectable eight goals in 19 outings for the Blues – including a hat-trick against Tottenham – but has only found the net in five of his 16 Premier League games.

He revealed that Mauricio Pochettino has been a big help and has pointed to the struggles of Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne when they were at Stamford Bridge in their youth. 

Salah only managed 13 top-flight appearances when he was at the club, while De Bruyne mustered a paltry three. Their careers since have shown their talent, but Jose Mourinho called them ‘kids who couldn’t wait’ for opportunities.

Asked about his season, Jackson said: ‘It is OK, it is not what I was going for, though it is my first season, so I am happy, although everybody is talking s***, I am very happy I don’t care what people say. 

Nicolas Jackson panned his critics by claiming they ‘don’t know about football’ and ‘talk s***’

He admitted that he ‘should have scored more’ but is still trying to adapt from La Liga football

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‘It is just people who don’t know about football. I will just continue to play more games and score more goals for the team.

‘I should have scored more because I have missed some chances. The Premier League is different from La Liga, where I came from. I am trying to adapt myself.

‘It is not an excuse. I am trying to continue to work harder and listen to people. Not the people who do not know football, I listen to the coach that knows more football and try to improve myself.’

Pochettino has a strong track record of taking young players under his wing, giving them responsibility, and helping them to thrive. 

He was instrumental in continuing the development of Harry Kane at Tottenham and gave Dele Alli his debut at the club after signing from MK Dons.  

A crushing pre-season injury to Christopher Nkunku – who only made the bench for the first time at the weekend – and the fitness struggles of Armando Broja have seen pressure fall on Jackson’s shoulders.

Jackson added: ‘He has been with a lot of young players [Poch], so he motivates me every day and tells me to go and he has seen people worse than me [in the past] and they are now big players.

‘De Bruyne was here and Salah was here. They struggled here and are now big players. They didn’t listen to people who don’t know football, he keeps telling me that.

Jackson spoke of how Mauricio Pochettino has motivated him and instilled him with belief 

Pochettino has inspired him with the examples of Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah, whose careers have taken off after tricky spells at Chelsea

‘He knows football; they don’t know football, so I don’t listen to them.’

Chelsea clambered into the top half of the Premier League table on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Sheffield United.

Jackson and Cole Palmer were on the scoresheet as they returned to winning ways following losses away to Manchester United and Everton. 

The striker said: ‘We still believe. We have just played 17 games. You cannot just jump from one to a hundred; you have to go step by step.

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‘For me, all the players here everybody has talent and can be there if they are good mentally. We have to forget about social media and just focus on ourselves and try to win games for the team.

‘The coach is really, really helping us a lot. We believe in him and he believes in us because he has been with young players, and we are all young.

‘That is not an excuse but we are still working to try and understand each other on the pitch and to win games.’

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