Frank Lampard claimed Nicolas Jackson was not at Chelsea’s level after his performance in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team will be confused as they failed to reach next month’s final and missed several chances to score against City at Wembley.
Bernardo Silva’s goal in the 84th minute was enough to secure a 1-0 victory for Pep Guardiola’s team, who will face either Manchester United or Coventry City in the final.
Jackson missed three clear chances for Chelsea, including a close-range header in the second half that he directed straight at City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
‘Poor day at the office for him,’ Alan Shearer commented during the BBC’s post-match analysis of Jackson’s performance.
‘It’s been a similar theme all season for Chelsea, you heard Poch before the game saying that he feels as if they should be in and around fourth position [in the Premier League] but because of the xG, this is exactly what he’s on about.
‘Three wonderful chances he’s [Jackson] had, two one-on-ones, he never really looked comfortable, made the wrong decision, made some really clever runs but he never looked comfortable.
‘They’re absolute sitters, they really are. He just never moved the ball out of his feet, three great chances for him.’
Lampard, on the other hand, showed sympathy for Jackson but believes the 22-year-old did not perform at the level Chelsea requires for their top striker.
‘I feel for him a little bit because he made lots of good movement, he’s a young striker, the attributes we saw in him today where he’s racing Kyle Walker, he’s shown pace, he’s shown good movement but there’s a technical detail there, the extra touch, the decision making at the highest level in these highest level of games are the difference,’ Lampard said.
‘The header, you hit anywhere but his body it’s a goal. Little decision making, I feel for him, we’ve all been there, we’ve all missed chances and it’s a critical one for the game.
‘But as a young player that’s the level that you have to be a striker for Chelsea.’
