Far too few Chelsea fans are honest about Jorginho. Jorginho arrived at the club during what would become one of its lowest points this decade. Maurizio Sarri was manager and he had ostracized the fanbase who split down the middle over him. The accelerate appointment of Frank Lampard only made things worse as the two sides on Sarri simply took up opposing points on Lampard. Jorginho was swept up into all of this (as was Mason Mount later) and it led to the similar splitting of opinions over Jorginho.
The simple truth of the matter is that Jorginho has never truly become the player that was advertised upon his arrival. He’s also never been the player that was so bad that the club was looking to force him out. The truth about Jorginho has always been somewhere in the middle, but as time goes on, he’s moved the needle closer to belief than disbelief.
But to understand that truth and be honest about that truth, one has to look at all the aspects of Jorginho’s Chelsea career thus far. How did he go from boos at Stamford Bridge to Europe’s Player of the Year? The answer, as with most things, is complicated.
1. Understanding the individual
When Jorginho joined, he was hailed as a “regista”. A regista is, more or less, a deep-lying playmaker that serves as the heartbeat of the team. Anything else is fluff. The term itself hurt Jorginho in the opening days of his Chelsea career. Jorginho is not a player that will create goals or rack up assists. At least not directly. He’s also not really the player setting the tempo, especially in the early days when nearly every pass he received was a one touch pass to a teammate.
Furthermore, under Sarri, Jorginho was occupying the deepest midfield spot in a 4-3-3. Generally seen as the defensive midfield spot, many were scratching their heads about Jorginho playing in that role instead of N’Golo Kante. Many times that season, Jorginho was proven to be too slow to lock down the midfield if a ball came through. He clearly had the awareness of where he needed to be, but being there and getting there are two different things.
Another important consideration is that Sarri’s year was Jorginho’s first year in England. Many players arriving in the Premier League talk about the lack of time on the ball compared to other leagues. Jorginho was often seen as a “press breaker” at Napoli due to his ability to receive and release the ball quickly. In the Premier League, that speed was increased and he had even less time on the ball to make a decision. But, like many players, there is an improvement after the first Premier League season. Manager discussions aside, Jorginho did look more comfortable with the speed of the game after his first year.
The rest of this article will largely be dedicated to the outside factors that improved Jorginho, but it is worth mentioning now that all of those factors come back to one thing: the player himself. Chelsea fans have seen other players have poor first seasons, drop their heads and never recover. That didn’t happen with Jorginho. After his first season, he put his head down and looked for ways to improve. He didn’t lose faith in himself and everything that happened around him couldn’t have happened without his personal drive. More than anything else, Jorginho’s tale from boos to POTY is one of fortitude and grit.