Manager claims Jackson can be “one of the best strikers in the world” despite “little mistake” | OneFootball

Jon Obi Mikel has long been a critic of Nicolas Jackson, and so the moment we saw the striker get a foolish red card against Flamengo we were already wondering what the former Chelsea midfielder would make of it all in his role as a pundit on DAZN.

Mikel lays into “stupid” Jackson after red

Nicolas Jackson looks pained after a red card. (Photo by Chris Lee/Chelsea FC)

He didn’t hold back:

“Unbelievable. Stupid, stupid, stupid mistake. I don’t know what was going through his head.

Your team needs you and he does that. He did the same at Newcastle… you can’t keep making these mistakes.”

He also noted how much better the Brazilian team had been than his former club:

“Flamengo from the start of the game they were the much better side. They controlled the game, played well, with tempo, they were aggressive. They were first to every ball and outplayed Chelsea from the very start.”

His coach defended him in the end – having said post game that it was a red, he changed his answer in the press conference to say that he was “not 100% sure it was a red card, compared to the Newcastle one.”

Flamengo coach happy to praise Jackson as “one of the best strikers”

One person was happy to praise Jackson however – Flamengo manager Filipe Luis. After coaching his team to a really good win, he was ready to back Jackson to overcome his struggles and get back on track to being one of the world’s best forwards:

“Jackson is so good and he is young and he has the quality the club needs. He will surpass this little mistake,” the Flamengo boss said.

“I think the red was clear, but it is just a small detail. He can be one of the best strikers in the world.”