Chelsea: Won’t somebody please think of the Jorginho

Among all the rumors about Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea’s future, many have forgotten how much of a package deal Jorginho has always been.

Rarely is a player’s career so closely tied to a particular manager’s preference or usage of them. Jorginho was mostly a peripheral Serie A player until Maurizio Sarri came to Napoli. Almost immediately, the Italian manager made Jorginho the center piece of his tactics. When the former came to Chelsea, the latter came as part of the deal, snubbing Manchester City in the process.

It is hard to separate Jorginho’s success from Sarri’s because they have been so intertwined. With rumors circling that Sarri could leave Chelsea after just one season, a common joke has been that Jorginho will follow him. Jorginho himself insists he is at Chelsea for the long haul (but then again, so does Sarri). What would Jorginho look like without Sarri in charge?

The Italian national team is really the only sample size to be had of Jorginho under someone besides Sarri since the player’s breakthrough. Jorginho currently has 14 caps with the Italian national team. His debut cameo came under Antonio Conte in 2016. Over a year later, he was called back into the side by Gian Piero Ventura. Since then, he has played almost every minute available with the national team under another Luigi Di Biagio and Roberto Mancini.

Almost exclusively, he has played the same regista role for the national team. Occasionally, he has played as an eight or as part of a midfield pair in a 4-4-2. Unlike Chelsea, where Jorginho has been good, his performances with Italy can be described as mostly okay. Of course, Italy as a whole is only okay anymore as they drew or lost the vast majority of matches Jorginho was involved in.

So really, Jorginho under another manager is mostly an unknown. Prior to Sarri’s arrival at Napoli, Rafa Benitez did not really take to the player. Benitez still used him often, but mostly in a pivot for a 4-2-3-1 and with nowhere near as much consistency as Sarri.

Jorginho could and should be good enough to play under other coaches if it comes to it. But it would really be uncharted territory for the most part. Would a new manager continue with Jorginho at the base of midfield? Would a new manager attempt to try Jorginho in a pivot like Benitez did? Or maybe another role or no role at all?

It will be hard to tell how Jorginho does at club level without Sarri without it actually happening. Sarri’s future is by no means decided, but it is interesting that Jorginho came out forcefully to say he will remain regardless. At some level, he surely knows that the link between him and Sarri is a weight he carries. There were even reports earlier in the season that other players thought of him as a bit of a teacher’s pet.

If anything, it could be interesting to see how the midfielder gets on if Sarri leaves. Many go to the extremes to criticize or praise him, and without Sarri, all the views on Jorginho may just become a little more accurate.