Dan Bardell assesses Nicolas Jackson's increasingly encouraging Aston Villa start after his first Premier League goal for the club, with his pace, movement and developing understanding with Johan Manzambi causing Tottenham major problems.
When Aston Villa were looking at their options to replace Ollie Watkins in the summer, Nicolas Jackson made sense to me because there were obvious parts of Watkins' game that he could replicate. He could run the channels, stretch a defence, work without the ball and give Villa the threat in behind that has always been so important to the way Unai Emery's best teams at Villa have attacked, but what I'm starting to realise after watching him in these opening weeks is that I probably underestimated some of the other qualities he would bring with him.
There are going to be frustrating afternoons with Jackson because we've already seen enough to know that. He can still be raw, his temperament has to be managed and even at Tottenham he managed to collect another booking, but there is also something slightly unpredictable about him which I think could become a real asset for Villa. He has an ability to make something out of situations where there doesn't initially appear to be very much on, and I actually thought the first half at Tottenham was a particularly good example of that because Villa weren't free-flowing, Spurs were probably the better team for significant periods and Jackson wasn't being presented with chance after chance, yet he continued to find ways of affecting the game.
He's not physically imposing in the traditional sense of being a huge centre-forward who is going to dominate centre-backs in the air, but he's much better at using his body than perhaps he gets credit for. There were occasions where it looked as though the defender had him under control or the ball had just escaped him, only for Jackson to shift his body, get another touch and suddenly turn an unpromising situation into an attack. He's skilful as well, certainly more skilful than I perhaps appreciated before he arrived, and when you combine that with the acceleration he possesses you start to understand why defenders can find him so awkward to deal with.
There were a couple of moments at Tottenham where he appeared to be moving at one speed before suddenly exploding away from the defender, and that ability changes what Villa can do in transition because the opposition can't afford to leave him isolated against a centre-back. If you've got somebody behind him who can recognise those moments and release the ball quickly enough, Jackson is always going to provide an option, which is why the relationship developing between him and Johan Manzambi was probably one of the most encouraging aspects of the afternoon.
Once Tottenham started chasing the game and leaving more space, Jackson and Manzambi caused them enormous problems because their respective qualities appear to fit together naturally. Manzambi wants movement ahead of him and Jackson will give him plenty of it, while Jackson can make those runs knowing there is somebody behind him capable of carrying the ball forward and finding him. He can also come towards possession, drift into the channels or isolate a defender, so it isn't simply a case of having a striker permanently standing on the shoulder waiting for the through ball.
His goal wasn't the cleanest strike he'll ever hit and the goalkeeper will probably feel he should have done better with it, but I liked the decision because Jackson got himself into a position where he could shoot across goal and gave the goalkeeper something to deal with. Sometimes that is all you need to do, particularly when you're a striker looking for your first Premier League goal at a new club, and after some of the performances we've seen from Villa this season where they haven't created enough or haven't been clinical enough when opportunities have arrived, there was something refreshing about seeing him take responsibility for the situation.
I also liked the little intervention from John McGinn afterwards because Jackson was already on a yellow card and was understandably desperate to celebrate his first league goal for Villa, but McGinn immediately reminded him not to do anything stupid. Don't take the shirt off, don't get involved with the Tottenham supporters and don't allow what should be a brilliant moment to become another conversation about discipline. That is probably part of what Villa have to manage with Jackson because you don't want to remove the aggression, confidence and personality that make him the player he is, but you do need to make sure those qualities don't occasionally work against him.
Nobody should pretend he's suddenly the finished article because he isn't, and I don't think Villa signed him believing that either. What they have got is a striker with a collection of attributes which Emery can work with, and the more I see of him the more I think the comparison with Watkins only takes you so far. I wanted Villa to find somebody capable of replacing some of the things they lost when Watkins left, particularly his running power, movement and willingness to work across the front line, but Jackson is beginning to show that he can bring some different qualities as well.
That's probably the most encouraging thing about his start. Villa haven't simply found somebody trying to imitate the striker who came before him; they're beginning to discover what Nicolas Jackson can make the position look like in this new team.
