Chelsea: Jorginho’s disciplinary antics do Billy Gilmour a solid favour

Jorginho picked the worst possible time to pass the threshold of yellow card accumulations in two competitions. Or, if you’re more a fan of Chelsea than you are of Jorginho himself, he picked the best possible time.

Chelsea’s vice-captain, regista, social media totem received his third Champions League yellow card and his 10th Premier League yellow card four days apart. As a result, Jorginho became the first player in Premier League history to have overlapping suspensions, as he will miss three of Chelsea’s next four games. If not for a relatively recent change to the rules, he would even further cement his place in football lore by serving two concurrent suspensions across three competitions: not long ago, a Premier League suspension would carry over to the FA Cup, which is where Chelsea have their next game.

Frank Lampard may start Jorginho against Liverpool in the FA Cup on Tuesday, knowing that Jorginho will then have a three-game, 10-day vacation from the squad as the Blues face Everton. Aston Villa and Bayern Munich. Or Lampard may get a head start of that trio of games and Chelsea’s future by starting Billy Gilmour against Liverpool, so the young man can take Jorginho’s spot in three competitions just as he will do before long in all competitions.

To recap, Jorginho went out of his way to earn two voluntary bookings.

Against Bayern Munich, Jorginho charged at the referee to dispute a call on a play that he was not involved in. Jorginho had committed only one foul to that point. He did not have a pattern of interactions or escalations with the referee. There was no major consequence to the call not going the way Jorginho wanted it to. Yet Jorginho decided to go beyond pointy-shouty and run at the referee (a contrast to having referees run past him on opposition counterattacks) to register his displeasure. His behaviour and presumably his words were so aggressive and unprofessional that the referee did not hesitate to show the card; and the referee had Jorginho so dead to rights that the Brazitalian did not even protest his booking, not directly or through the captain, Cesar Azpilicueta.

On Saturday against Bournemouth, Jorginho hacked down a player just inside Bournemouth’s zone. Three Chelsea players were within 10 yards. Had Jorginho simply gone for a tackle and missed, his teammates would have been able to cover. Jorginho did not receive a card for denying a potential break, but for taking down the player and not the ball. It was a tactical foul with no tactical sense or bearing.

The first was not leadership or passion. The second was not physicality or self-sacrifice. They were both gratuitous, the product of a player either not in control of himself or his environment, or who makes amazingly poor decisions.

Frank Lampard does not have a deep bench at central midfield right now. N’Golo Kante does not seem to be getting any closer to returning. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is, but should re-enter the side in very small increments.

The 3-4-3 is working for Chelsea, so a formation change is unlikely. Even with a change in formation, though, Lampard would still need another deep midfielder unless he shifts to some version of a 4-1-4-1. But in that set-up, the defensive midfielder would have to come from a wild-card option: Cesar Azpilicueta, Reece James or Andreas Christensen.

The seamless and obvious solution, then, is to use a player the club ostentatiously “promoted” to the first team for “full-time” training: Billy Gilmour.

Gilmour has shown in his few appearances this season that he can do much of what Chelsea are missing in the holding / defensive midfielder role.

Since using N’Golo Kante in that role seems to be off the table, the Blues need a player who can defend one-on-one, break up attacks and move the ball in directions other than the one he is facing. Even if Lampard does restore Kante to where Chelsea need him most, having Gilmour nearby will give Kante more freedom to move forward as the situation dictates; minimize the area Kante has to cover, which is now of increasing concern given Kante’s string of injuries; and will maybe provide the required amount of protection for the back line, a statement that says as much about the defenders as anyone in Chelsea’s midfield.

The story of Chelsea’s squad rotation this season is that it’s easier for incumbents than challengers. Lampard will wait a long time before dropping a player for cause, but once he does, that player has a very difficult road back. But then if that player makes it back to the XI, the job is his to defend (see: Alonso, Marcos).

Injuries and suspensions are the only shortcuts from the bench to pitch.

Jorginho has been blessed by his incumbency and N’Golo Kante’s injury. His performances recently have been anonymous at best, until the last two when he made his presence known as the guy standing below and in front of a yellow card.

This might be the opening Billy Gilmour has been waiting for. Thanks to Jorginho’s generosity, Gilmour will have three games in two competitions – including a low-pressure all-but-dead rubber against Bayern Munich – to prove why he deserves to be the next incumbent warding off challengers. Lampard may even see Jorginho’s parallel bookings as sufficient cause to drop him on the merits, perhaps starting with the Liverpool game on Tuesday or as his going-in position on the other side of the suspension. If Jorginho will not show the judgment to protect his place in the squad by not getting ridiculous bookings, why should Lampard oblige him with a spot?

If Gilmour can put himself in the mix for the remainder of the season, Chelsea may feel comfortable enough in the midfield to move Jorginho out this season.

Perhaps that’s a bit optimistic, but what is this season if not concern for the present overwhelmed by optimism for the future?