Jamie Carragher left worried after what Pochettino did to 22-year-old Chelsea player on Saturday

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Jamie Carragher admits it immediately worried him when Mauricio Pochettino made the tactical switch in Chelsea’s draw against Arsenal to bring on Nicolas Jackson as a striker and change formation.

Chelsea played superbly well for the majority of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal in the Premier League, but they conceded twice in the final 15 minutes to end up with just one point.

Interestingly, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has flagged a tactical change from Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino which concerned him during the second half of the Arsenal match. That was when Nicolas Jackson replaced Mykhailo Mudryk in the 66th minute.

Turning point for Chelsea

Carragher liked the way Chelsea played for the opening hour, with Mudryk and Raheem Sterling both effective as the wide players. Meanwhile, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer operated as roaming No 10s, so there was no recognised striker in attack.

Pochettino decided to bring on his traditional centre-forward for the final quarter, which is a decision Carragher didn’t agree with.

“They made a substitution where Jackson came on, and it was Mudryk who went off. I naturally thought he’d just go to a wide position, and they’d keep that box midfield. It unnerved me a little bit from a Chelsea point of view that he went 4-2-3-1,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Main Event channel (7:28pm, 23 October).

Nicolas Jackson decision

We don’t want to see Chelsea starting most of their games without a recognised No 9, but the system without one was working very effectively against Arsenal. In particular, the defensive shape out of possession was spot on and majorly frustrating the opposition.

The decision to bring on Jackson and change shape at the weekend is one that now Pochettino may look back on with some regret.

We’re certainly fascinated to see the Blues line-up ahead of this Saturday afternoon’s Premier League fixture at home to Brentford.

Jackson is dividing opinion in the Chelsea fanbase and his starting position is up for debate, but we wouldn’t mind him getting a chance to play versus Brentford.

The 22-year-old forward can provide a target at the point of attack. Yes, his game is still a little erratic and he looks raw. But there’s definitely something in there and he’s not the reason Chelsea dropped two points on Saturday.

The Mail Online reports that Jackson is turning out to be one of the worst Premier League signings of the summer. We definitely don’t subscribe to that theory right now!