After going through yet another season in turmoil, Chelsea have seemed to have turned a corner right at the business end of the season. A poorly managed team with over reliance on the brilliance of Cole ‘Cold’ Palmer, it looked like a side bereft of any ideas and spine.
After a 5-0 drubbing at the hands or bitter-rivals Arsenal just over a week ago seemed to have dealt Chelsea their hand for the campaign however, Mauricio Pochettino and his blues have stepped on the pedal for a respectable finish, firing themselves into contention for Europe at the cusp of curtains.
It all started with the very next game against Aston Villa where a tactical tweak by Pochettino enabled Chelsea to come back from the brink of a damaging tweet. A result which propelled the Blues to sweep away Tottenham and West Ham in their following matches, leaving behind United at 7th for a place in the Europa League.
While Chelsea as a team have certainly benefitted from this tweak, it has done wonders for their forwards, more specifically Nicolas Jackson.
The 37 million euro summer arrival from Villarreal is a promising talent having impressed in LaLiga the previous season and has returned decent numbers this time around too with 16 goals and 6 assists across all competitions. However, while the rest of the team imploded around him, the Senegalese striker too was guilty of dropping stinkers on a regular basis.
The upsides to his game, the pace and technical ability were overshadowed by erratic decision making and poor finishing. Even his work rate was left wanting at times. The fact he didn’t hold back on the aesthetics of his hairstyle, angered the fans even further.
So, while the recent turnaround in form for Chelsea and Nicolas Jackson can be attributed to Mauricio’s tactical acumen, it wouldn’t be prudent to rush to give all the flowers to the manager for the latter.
For all his potential, Jackson had to change something about himself if he had to make it at a big club such as Chelsea. Fortunately for him, his hairstyle proved to do the trick.
After a flashy mohawk submerged in colours of gold and blue, those of Chelsea’s home kit this season, Nicolas decided to put the tough times behind him by sporting a new look, getting rid of his hair in the process.
Chelsea’s number nine struggles both as a jersey number and position have been historically well-documented. Unfazed by the challenge, Nicolas decided to don the historic number 15 following the footsteps of and in a tribute to a fellow African, Chelsea legend and his idol, Didier Drogba.
Still struggling to put in consistent performances, Nicolas Jackson took a step further and shaved his hair in a look that resembled a sign of humility and also, a later-stage Drogba.
It’s fair to say, the new trim has worked well for the young striker. After his infamous, jaw-dropping, goal gaping misses against Arsenal and Manchester City in the FA Cup Semi-Final, the forward has been firing on all cylinders, bagging a couple of crucial goals in the derbies against Tottenham and West Ham.
Even the fans can’t get enough of this reinvigorated Nicolas Jackson and pay homage to his shaved head as Jackson is clearly thriving off the ‘Drogba’ energy.
It’s never easy to perform at a club run as Chelsea is, with plethora of injuries and overbooked slots of players. Nicolas certainly has had his fair share of struggles this season, but the forward’s resilience and his faith in symbolism has earned him a purple patch of form that might just help Chelsea finish the season with a return to Europe and something to celebrate.
Whatever said and done, it is also definitely awestriking and must be noted how Didier Drogba continues to save Chelsea..10 years after he left the club. Inspirational.
