Chelsea have quite a young team, which has probably contributed to their struggles this season.
The Blues have spent most of the campaign in the bottom half of the table, though they started today in ninth.
Cole Palmer is one of those young players in this Chelsea team, but he has definitely not been a reason for their problems.
The 21-year-old has come up with more than 20 goal contributions in the Premier League.
The inexperience of one of his team-mates, though, has not helped Mauricio Pochettino‘s side, according to one pundit.
Chelsea star not ready to start
While Palmer has proven that he is good enough to start week in, week out for Chelsea, former Blues defender Scott Minto has doubts about another attacker.
Nicolas Jackson has come in for criticism this season and while Minto has defended him, he has admitted that the 22-year-old is still quite raw.
Discussing Jackson on talkSPORT, Minto said: “If I was to say there was one position to nail down, it’s a reasonably obvious one and it would be where you [Dean Saunders] used to play, up front.
“Nicolas Jackson, he’s had a lot of detractors and I’ve defended him a lot, but he’s still raw and he’s one of those if you’ve got a club that’s wanting to chase at the very least top four, he should be coming off the bench to make a different option, not be the person you’re relying on. He’s not quite ready for that yet, so I would put all my eggs in the basket of a striker.”
Should Nicolas Jackson be a starter for Chelsea?
For now, yes. Pochettino does not have any other real alternatives at this moment in time.
Going forward, though, it would perhaps be helpful if Chelsea had a more experienced and proven centre-forward leading the line at Stamford Bridge with Jackson covering him.
The £32m Senegal international has not been terrible for the Blues, scoring in some big games for them this season.
Jackson netted a hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur and fired past Manchester City in the first half of the campaign.
But to be more successful, Pochettino may need a striker who is closer to being the finished article, if he is not that already.