Enzo Maresca is full of praise for one Chelsea star after Saturday’s performance against Leicester City, especially because of his hard work out of possession.
Chelsea secured a 2-1 away victory at Leicester this weekend to pick up three points in the Premier League. Therefore, they keep themselves third in the division table and within the Champions League positions.
Enzo Maresca will have enjoyed watching his side win as he returned to his former club for the first time since leaving in the summer. Leicester weren’t happy Maresca left them to join Chelsea, but it looks like a great match at Stamford Bridge so far.
READ MORE: What multiple Chelsea sources are now saying about Enzo Maresca’s future at the club
Enzo Maresca loves Nicolas Jackson work off the ball
Chelsea boss Maresca praised Nicolas Jackson after his eye-catching display versus Leicester this afternoon. In particular, he highlighted that the Blues striker works extremely hard when he’s not got the ball for his team.
“For me, he is doing very well. I have said many times, since we started, he is working hard on the ball and off the ball. He is making an effort to understand the way we want to play,” Maresca said, as quoted by Football.London.
“Sometimes we use him almost as a midfielder, dropping. Sometimes we use him attacking in behind. If you remember Brighton, or even today. It depends on the game-plan.
“We are very happy with the way Nico is playing on the ball but especially in the way he is playing off the ball – the way he is pressing. In this moment, we are very happy and we are sure he is going to get better game after game.”
Peter Crouch was equally impressed by Chelsea frontman Jackson during Saturday’s league win over Leicester. On top of his well-taken goal, the young attacker lead the line superbly well with plenty of movement.
Darren Bent thinks Jackson is perfect in Chelsea’s system. It’s hard to argue anything different based off this campaign under Maresca.
Nicolas Jackson is a busy striker
It feels like Jackson has really levelled up so far in this 2024/25 campaign. As a result, Christopher Nkunku doesn’t have a chance of breaking into the best XI at this moment in time.
He’s doing his main job as a central striker, scoring seven goals in 12 league games this season. Also, he gets through so much work during every game with his tireless engine and fantastic attitude.
Fotmob data has provided the individual statistics from Jackson’s display versus Leicester:
- Match rating – 8.2
- Minutes played – 89
- Goals – 1
- Total shots – 3
- Successful dribbles – 1/1 (100%)
- Touches – 28
- Accurate passes – 6/8 (75%)
- Chances created – 1
- Tackles won – 1/2 (50%)
- Interceptions – 1
- Recoveries – 3
- Ground duels won – 4/6 (67%)
- Aerial duels won – 1/3 (33%)
The defensive stats above really highlight that the Chelsea forward is the complete package.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
