Jorginho is not the problem for Chelsea but is also not the solution

Jorginho has often been subbed off as Chelsea has chased matches as of late. He has not been the problem for the Blues but he is no solution either.

It is very hard to get an accurate portrayal of Jorginho given so much of what he does/does not do is viewed through the lens of Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard. He is either the only thing that makes Chelsea click or a liability. He can be the defensive wall at the back or the one who does nothing for the attack. There is so little in between that the actual player is blurred.

The consensus seems to be that Jorginho has been better this season but it ends there. No one can seem to agree if he has a place in Chelsea’s best midfield (be it a three or a pivot) and no one can seem to agree if he helps or hurts the attack/defense.

This has all been magnified by his sudden rotation since the break and the fact that he has often been the first subbed off when Frank Lampard is trying to chase a game. If nothing else is true, it is that Jorginho has not really been the problem this season. He just has not been the solution either.

First of all, Frank Lampard has mostly opted to keep Jorginho as the deepest midfielder this season. Lampard’s midfield flows a great deal so being the deepest is rarely a consistent factor, but on paper it remains Jorginho. Defensively, he is fine when he has the read of a game but once he is beaten on a dribble or otherwise, he is basically out of the play. Given that so much of Chelsea’s defense is filtered through the pressing of the front three/four this season, that has been a smaller issue than previously but not an absent one.

But what has recently been hounded in on is Jorginho’s absence. Lampard has rotated him out recently for various players depending on who is asked. Somehow, it is both true that Chelsea struggle to build out of the back without him and that Chelsea has far more penetration on attack without him. Jorginho, ultimately, is a great player to move the ball from A to B. But he is not Cesc Fabregas in setting up a strike on goal or Pirlo able to do 20 things at once. Even the once upon a time hopeless no look long ball over the top he tried every game has all but vanished since he tried a hopefully, sighted long ball over the top and got an assist for his effort.

Lampard’s subbing Jorginho off when he has played has only exacerbated this issue among some. Since returning from break, Jorginho has been subbed off four times. Two of those times came for another midfielder (Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante). The other two came as Lampard either chased a game or tried to close a game down (Michy Batshuayi or Emerson). Chelsea struggled in all those matches, but not for the presence or absence of Jorginho. They struggled with and without him and he was hardly the player that was needed to change a game.

Jorginho is very much a solid and consistent player. But he rarely hits great highs and also rarely hits great lows. He is, more or less, the default midfielder for Chelsea. One to come in and do a job but not a specialized one. He cannot change a game but he will not hurt the effort either. That has been a large reason as to why Lampard has been willing to rotate him out or substitute him off.

He is not a problem causing Chelsea’s current woes. He just is not the solution to them either. Jorginho is the free square in the middle that can help win Bingo. But he does not guarantee it.