Jorginho: Chelsea’s good but not great general midfielder

Chelsea’s Jorginho has some weird perceptions about him tied to how fans view Maurizio Sarri. He is a good but not great general midfielder.

Jorginho is a known product almost exclusively thanks to Maurizio Sarri. No manager before him could find a consistent starting role that worked for the Italian. But Sarri changed that when he swapped Napoli to a 4-3-3 with Jorginho as the center piece.

So naturally, it is very hard to view Jorginho through a lens that does not include Sarri. As a result, perceptions of Jorginho are heavily flavored by how fans view Sarri. It is not exactly a winning situation for the midfielder who cannot be judged on his own merits often enough.

But what are his merits? Jorginho is a hard player to pin down. Chelsea fans are told that he is vital to the system but he rarely shows up in a standout way on stats. Some see him as Chelsea’s most underrated player while others see him as Chelsea’s most overrated player. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Jorginho is a good player, but he is not a great player.

The biggest stick used to beat Jorginho is his lack of assists and goals. The response to that is generally something along the lines of it “not being his job”. But it is worth noting that even though it is not his job, statically he almost should have fallen into a few goals or assists through the course of the season.

The players in front of him being poor finishers is often the excuse for the lack of assists. And while there is an argument to be made there it is still interesting as to how few players finish his passes. There is a notion that as soon as a pass leaves a players foot, all the responsibility goes onto the player receiving the pass. But not enough is made about the quality of that pass if the teammate receives it. Was it hit accurately, was it hit with too much pace, was it played to someone ready for it?

All those factors influence how a pass is received and the passer holds that responsibility. Watch clips of “should have been assists” passes from Jorginho and watch how often the receiving player has difficulty controlling the ball. It is not because they are unprepared for it or have a bad touch; it is often because the pass is less than ideal.

Jorginho works for Sarri because his first instinct is almost always a one touch pass. Even when the situation does not call for it Jorginho will hit it first time most of the time. That plays its part in players receiving passes but it also raises another issue: how stiff necked Jorginho is as a playmaker.

Being a midfielder (but especially being a playmaker) requires a head on a swivel. Frank Lampard was famous for how often he was looking around and checking his surroundings. Jorginho not so much. Watch Jorginho for a few minutes and it becomes clear how little he looks around and considers his passes before making them.

Sarrismo as a system bails him out of that which is another reason why he works in it. In Sarrismo, most of the movements are choreographed and patterned. So when Jorginho makes a pass without looking first, he does so with the knowledge that someone should be there.

All of that is not to mention that his position on the field requires him to help shield the defense. While he can often find the right position to cut a ball out, there are several instances where the defense is left out to dry and the camera slowly pans to Jorginho trotting back from the other half.

Jorginho does do an excellent job of offering himself as a passing option. He also is incredibly eager to move the ball around to shuffle the opposition out of place. Some of the praise he earns is well warranted but often times praise for Jorginho goes to high up the dial compared to what actually happened in the match.

Jorginho becomes even more connected to Sarri in those instances. If the viewer feels favorably to Sarri, they tend to defend Jorginho’s contributions and hype him up more. If the viewer feels unfavorably towards Sarri, then Jorginho is always a liability and a fraud.

Again, the truth is in the middle. Jorginho is a good player but he simply is not a great one currently. For years to come he can play a role for Chelsea or a similarly leveled club, but it is unlikely that he will ever be the key man again like he was at Napoli.

That also makes it interesting as to what will happen to Jorginho when he eventually cannot play for Sarri in the future. Jorginho on the national team is a shadow of himself at club level and the sense is that without Sarri, Jorginho lacks a clearly defined role once again. If Sarri leaves, what spot, role, or position does Jorginho fill when he is as limited but talented as he is?

Unless something changes, Jorginho will remain a good but not great player in the game that does the general things in midfield fine but rarely exceptionally. Perhaps Jorginho needs another manager with a fresh set of eyes to find a new way to use him. Regardless, it is hard to view him as either vastly overrated or underrated when the Sarri lens is removed. He simply is a midfielder that offers himself for a pass and looks to move it on. It is how he opts to move it on and how he is positioned on the field that shows where the discrepancies lie.