How Jorginho has proven his early Arsenal doubters wrong

 

It was a transfer many Arsenal fans questioned when they saw the links, but in his few games since coming into the side, Jorginho hasn’t looked out of place in Mikel Arteta’s title chasing team. 

 

Of course, it is difficult to judge a player on only 301 minutes of action over just four appearances, but the early signs do suggest Jorginho is slotting right into place in north London. 

 

There were a lot of early critics of the signing pointing to Jorginho’s age, the fact the transfer seemed to be a case of 'better someone than no one' and of course the Chelsea curse. 

 

Things didn’t exactly start well for him either with Everton scoring shortly after he came on for his debut, even if he had nothing to do with his new team conceding in what was a first loss in the league in five months. 

 

It was then announced shortly before the massive meeting with Manchester City that star man Thomas Partey would miss the game through injury, meaning the former Chelsea midfielder would be thrust in for his first start. 

 

While Arsenal may have played well at times, it was costly errors and misplaced passes that ultimately cost them what would have been a huge three points against the defending champions, especially given the situation they currently find themselves in. But for Jorginho, it was a bright first start in N5. 

 

He recorded a 6.88 WhoScored rating that day, only bettered by one of his teammates, goalscorer Bukayo Saka (6.99). His performance was a positive one and while only Rodri (4) recorded more interceptions than the Italy international (3), he also made a clearance off the line, maintained an 87.9% pass success rate and won possession in the midfield third six times, a sum that again only Rodri (7) could better. Furthermore, watching his movement and general play, he came across as the director of the team pointing to players where to pass and where to stand, as if he had been among them for years rather than weeks. 

 

His status among the Arsenal faithful grew even further against Aston Villa when his first-time strike in second half stoppage time, which bounced in off the back of former goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, paved the way for the Gunners to reclaim top spot. It not only secured the three points, but broke the Arsenal fans into a serenade about their latest signing.  

 

With Partey again not fit enough to start against Leicester, Jorginho was again used from the outset, and again he managed to deliver. Against the Foxes, Jorginho made the second most tackles (3), won the third most aerial duels (3) and won possession in the midfield third seven times, which was at least three more than any other player at the King Power.   

 

His average rating for Arsenal (6.80) is higher than his return at Chelsea (6.65) and with the Euro 2020 winner ranking highly since his departure from the Blues in a number of areas, it’s clear to see why. 

 

Looking at the figures he’s produced altogether since his arrival, it makes for good reading for Arteta. Only four players have won possession in the midfield third (17) more times than Jorginho in the Premier League in that time and his 15 accurate long-balls and 12 accurate chipped passes rank well among the league’s outfield players. His key passes per game have also increased from 0.4 to 0.8 following his short move across London, while he has also registered 38 final third entries since switching blue for red. 

 

 

The difficulties Enzo Fernandez is facing early on in his Chelsea career to play the game the way he does best appear to correlate with what Jorginho had to face during his spell in West London, namely a victim of the system, rather than a bad player per se. Looking at Fernandez closely, and it’s clear to see that he is still performing at a decent level in what is his first month in the Premier League. 

 

For the Italian, he has come into an environment that is more positive than the one he left, but is also one of a team who many would say play a much more expansive style of football and create a lot more chances. It’s not necessarily a case of being freed of the shackles of Stamford Bridge, but he is definitely getting more freedom and importantly more support to play his game to its highest level.

 

While Partey has returned to the team following injury and is likely to start on Wednesday if fully fit, Jorginho has shown that he has more than enough to guide this young Arsenal side in these remaining months of the season, both on and off the pitch, as we head into the business end of the campaign.

How Jorginho has proven his early Arsenal doubters wrong