Chelsea supporters have been incredibly unfair to Jorginho

Chelsea fans are perhaps the most opinionated people in the football community. This piece was written after Jorginho’s superb performance on the opening of the UEFA Euro 2020 group stages, but this piece is not written based on that, though that’s part of it. Jorginho was largely consistent last season, but it only took Thomas Tuchel’s arrival to make people start acknowledging it. Further, it took a Champions League trophy to make some appreciate it.

Jorginho arrived the same day as Maurizio Sarri and extreme sides of the fanbase reacted very strongly to his time and arrival. First of all, many had not heard about Jorginho. The problem is that no one wanted to admit they didn’t know about the player and were reserving judgements until more information came. Those who thought Sarri was a football revolutionary also thought Jorginho was an Andrea Pirlo incarnate. Many who thought Sarri was just a worse Pep Guardiola-copy cat thought Jorginho was useless as a central defensive midfielder.

Both parties were wrong. However, it’s important to understand the viewpoints of both sides.

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Jorginho has largely been misunderstood during his time at Chelsea.

Chelsea had John Mikel Obi, who played more than 300 games for the Blues. This means that those who watched Chelsea watched a lot of Mikel Obi. A LOT. Mikel’s performance in the 2012 Champions League final will have stuck in the minds of many. Mikel was a traditional defensive midfielder with the superb passing ability of a creative midfielder, and the excellent awareness of a defensive midfielder.

One would be spoiled watching Mikel growing up because one would judge every other defensive midfielder against him. This is fair, on some level, because there always has to be a point of comparison. However, Mikel was a rare player. He didn’t come around often. He was outstanding, athletic and intelligent. Many Blues fans—unsurprisingly—judged every defensive midfielder at Chelsea against Mikel and obviously these players fell short.

On the other hand, Sarri played a heavy possession-based system with little flexibility in formation. This meant that the Italian’s deepest midfielder in the midfield three had a lot of passing to do. This midfielder was the anchor for playing out from the back and recycling possession to keep the ball moving along. Jorginho was touted as a midfielder dictator, passing maestro and tempo controller who was tasked with keeping the ball moving when the Blues were in possession. Interestingly, it was his role off the ball that created a lot of dispute.

This dispute fueled a lot of irritation at the Italian because many, wrongly, claimed he had no defensive duties. This was, of course, false because he is a defensive midfielder and definitely had defensive responsibilities. The other end of the spectrum had fans who claimed Jorginho had no defensive abilities. They also were wrong. Jorginho is not as athletic as N’Golo Kante, Mikel or a Wilfred Ndidi, but his defensive awareness was really understated. Jorginho is slow. He’s a 29-year-old defensive midfielder who’s not fast, and he knows that. This is why he trusts his positioning to cover up for his lack of pace, and he does that well.

There is nothing a 29-year-old Italian international can do about his pace. In fact, he can only anticipate to get slower the older he gets. This lack of pace means that at moments in a match where pace is the most essential skill needed, he falls short. This is a shortcoming, yes, but it doesn’t define Jorginho as a player.

This is where Chelsea fans have been incredibly unfair to him. Many fans see Jorginho as a liability because of his pace and often dilute praise for him or attach praise for him to praise for other players. Jorginho has often been defensively solid in his own right, popping up in spaces to cut out attacks and making crucial interceptions. Yes, when you get past him and he has to chase, he almost always loses that battle.

Jorginho’s strengths and weaknesses show up on statistics sheets too. His Champions League numbers are particularly revealing. He led Chelsea in tackles and interceptions per 90 for midfielders who played more than five games. At the same time, he has the lowest success rate of ground duels of the midfielders, and the lowest number of ground duels won per 90 of the midfielders. He has also been dribbled past the most. He played 12 Champions league games, so this trend held true throughout the Champions League campaign.

To compare this to Kante: Kante ranked second for interceptions per 90, last for tackles per 90, first for ground duels success rate, first for successful ground duels and first for dribbled past (dribbled past the fewest). This indicates that Kante is more athletic and more well-rounded. Jorginho’s defensive awareness and impressive positioning show in his tackling and interceptions numbers.

Against Turkey in the opening game of the Euros, Jorginho made the most tackles of anyone on the pitch and the most interceptions of anyone on the pitch.

This piece is not directed at people who criticize Jorginho when he has a bad game, it’s directed as those who judge him as a player based on his athleticism and pace. Everyone used the fact that England National Team manager, Gareth Southgate, trusted Mason Mount to show his detractors that Mount was a lot better than he was given credit for. Yet, many—a lot of the former—have kept silent about the fact that Italy’s manager, Roberto Mancini, has trusted Jorginho for as long as he is in the center of Italy’s midfield.

Jorginho should be given credit where it’s due, and not diluted credit that is actually aimed at other players. Actual praise, like many other members of the squad get. Jorginho was not a passenger in Chelsea’s Champions League winning squad, he was an essential member of the squad. He started 12 out of 13 matches. He was crucial in controlling the midfield against Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Manchester City, amongst others. Jorginho is not a Champions League winner because of Kante, Jorginho and Kante are Champions League winners because of Jorginho and Kante.

All stats from SofaScore.