Maresca points out Jackson’s disadvantage compared to other strikers but it’s not a convincing defence | OneFootball

Premier League press conference tend to follow the form of the team. When you’re doing well you get an easy ride, when you’re struggling the questions turn nasty.

Enzo Maresca’s great first half of the season saw him getting pretty comfortable in the big chair, but now things have turned a little sour he’s getting pressure on a few different points.

While a lot of it has been transfer and squad related because of the time of year, he’s now also getting some questions about the form of individual players who are struggling right now. Among them is Nicolas Jackson, whose early season form has fallen away as he has struggled to find the net in recent games.

His poor form is leading to low confidence, which in turn leads to more form.

Maresca has simple advice for misfiring Jackson

Jackson endured a difficult afternoon at Selhurst Park. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Maresca, as you’d expect, was full of soothing words in his press conference today when asked what Jackson can do to get back to where he was:

“Just continue to work in the way he’s working. He scored many goals at the beginning of the season, now there are games where he is not scoring,” the manager said.

“We are completely happy with Nicolas; we don’t judge Nicolas just for the goals but we judge Nicolas for different things. He is doing well, scoring goals with us that are not penalties. Almost all the No.9s take penalties. He has also been a bit unlucky because he has had great chances to score.”

Defending him on the basis that he doesn’t take penalties is more of a big picture issue when looking at his goal totals compared to other strikers over a year or multiple years. We’re not sure how useful it is here.

What is very true is that (at his best) Jackson does offer a lot to the team other than his goals, as Maresca points out.