Chelsea vs Man City three lessons learnt: King Jorginho

2. Jorginho, King of the Midfield

An indication of how little some Chelsea fans think of Jorginho (this writer included) is perhaps the most evident when news broke of Mateo Kovacic’s absence from Saturday’s semifinal. As it became increasingly clear that a Jorginho-N’Golo Kante pivot was most likely going to have to feature against the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne, most Chelsea fans simply did not rate the Italian enough to give the team a chance of progressing past an all-conquering City side. These are sentiments well-known to Jorginho himself, as early as during his time under Maurizio Sarri.

Yet, it is in games such as this when maintaining possession of the ball is key to establishing control of the match that Jorginho’s value truly shines through. An outstanding reader of the game—even when under intense pressure from Man City’s forwards—Jorginho was crucial in allowing the Blues long periods of possession in the early parts of the game. Recording a passing accuracy of 92 percent, the Italian effectively starved City of its most efficient means of scoring goals.

As the game progressed and Hakim Ziyech rolled in Timo Werner’s low cross into an open goal, the most underrated aspect of Jorginho’s game came into play as he went about disrupting City’s offensive moves, recording six recoveries whilst completing 10 of his 16 duels. On his day, the 29-year-old can be an absolute force in the middle of the pitch. Jorginho may never be the fastest or the strongest player on the field, and these things often open him up to criticism considering the pace of the Premier League these days. But as the player himself admits, “these criticisms motivate him to work harder and do better.” At the end of the day, this monster mentality is what will ultimately bring Chelsea up to the next level.