Chelsea star gives damning response to Nicolas Jackson red card: “He needs to improve”

Chelsea were beaten in their Club World Cup clash against Flamengo as they ended with ten men after Nicolas Jackson received a second red card in as many months

Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson has been told he needs to “improve a little bit with these kinds of things” by team-mate Marc Cucurella after being shown a red card within four minutes of his introduction as the Blues were beaten by Flamengo in the Club World Cup.

The Chelsea frontman came off the bench in Philadelphia but only last four minutes before he was given his marching orders. The Senegalese star recklessly planted his studs on Ayrton Lucas’ shin just after his side had gone down 2-1, making their task even harder.

It is the second time in a matter of weeks that Jackson was red carded. He was sent-off at Newcastle back in May as the west Londoners fell to a 2-0 loss and his moment of madness against cost his team again, as they eventually lost 3-1 to their Brazilian opponents.

Jackson’s antics have drawn criticism from all quarters and Cucurella has admitted that the 24-year-old needs to address the issue in his game.

The Spaniard said: “It is a bit of bad luck. He tried to put his foot in to kick the ball but he kicked the player’s leg. That’s it. We now miss him for the next game. He is a young player with a lot of quality and maybe he needs to improve this.”

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Cucurella confirmed that Jackson, who was described as a “very important player for us”, stood up and apologised to the group in the aftermath of the loss with the forward taking to social media and issuing a statement where he said there were “no excuses”.

“I want to say sorry. To the club, the staff, my teammates, and all the fans watching, I let you down,” it read. “Another red card… And honestly, I’m so angry at myself. I work hard every day to help the team not to put us in this kind of situation. I still don’t fully understand how it happened. But one thing is clear: it wasn’t intentional. Just a moment in football that went the wrong way.”

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca refused to dwell too much on the situation as he said: “It was a red card, so nothing to say.” Jackson’s moment of madness does open the door for new signing Liam Delap to further stake his claim.

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel blasted Jackson for his red-card challenge as he said on DAZN: “Unbelievable. Stupid, stupid, stupid mistake. I don’t know what’s going through his head. You come into the game, you’re 2-1 down, your team needs you, and you do that.

“He did it in the important Premier League game against Newcastle, when we needed to win to qualify for the Champions League places, and he has done it again. You can’t keep making mistakes.”

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