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.
2. Freedom requires a sharpened skillset
There are largely two poles on the attacking coaching spectrum. On one side there are the circuit based managers. They train the team to do particular routines over and over until they become second nature. This allows for action faster than thought and it is also a quick way to get a team performing. Italian managers tend to lean this way with Antonio Conte and Sarri both using circuits.
The main issue with this method is that it can eventually be found out. Opponents can learn to recognize the circuits and stop them. Since these circuits are trained so heavily, the players end up doing many of them automatically. When they fail, they often have little else to fall back on.
The other side of the spectrum is decision-making coaching. Instead of telling the players what to do, they are coached in a variety of different solutions. On the pitch, the players are trusted to make the right decision from their point of view. This takes much longer to implement, but having done so, a team becomes unpredictable and nearly unstoppable. The main drawback is how much of this style is between the ears. If confidence drops or players are unfamiliar with what the other is thinking, the method can go cold. Lampard very much came down on this side of the spectrum.
Understanding all of that is important because it affected Jorginho’s performances. Under Sarri, Jorginho was supposed to be the start of most circuit-based attacks. By the time he received the ball, he likely already had in mind which play the team was going to do. Eventually, so did the opponent. Opposition would either mark Jorginho out to stop these circuits or they would mark out his targets. Either way, it made Chelsea go flat quickly.
Furthermore, this automatic nature made Jorginho’s role a static one. He rarely ventured from a small lane in the center and receiving the ball felt almost rushed. The things that worked so well after three years with Sarri’s Napoli were never going to work as well in Sarri’s first year at Chelsea, but the weaknesses were evident early on.
Lampard’s style was a shock to the system afterward. Players suddenly had to make their own decisions and they were given much greater freedom. For Jorginho, this would be a hinderance at times as he still seemed to be moving the ball too quickly and too automatically. Rarely under Sarri did Jorginho have to scan the pitch because he already knew where teammates were supposed to be. The longer he played with Lampard, however, the more he was forced to take stock of his situation. That may seem a mind numbingly simple thing for an elite footballer to pick up, but after years of knowing where teammates should be without looking, Jorginho had to adapt.
Which eventually spins into Thomas Tuchel’s time at Chelsea. Tuchel exists somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of circuits and decision making. Whereas Sarri had said he didn’t think Jorginho could play in a midfield two-man pivot and Lampard didn’t trust Jorginho in a pivot at all, Tuchel showed that neither was right. The freedom of Lampard’s Blues was still there in part, but it was simplified. Instead of being central and having up to six forward passes, Tuchel’s Chelsea narrowed that down to four at most. That seems a simple distinction but fewer passing options better replicates the automatic nature of Jorginho’s time in Italy. He’s now able to make decisions faster but also from anywhere he ends up on the pitch.
One should ask how this all fits in with the Italian National Team where Jorginho plays in a role more akin to his role under Sarri. The simplest answer is Italy doesn’t do everything through him. While he remains the heartbeat of the team, Italy is far more keen on the centerbacks playing long or playing out through the flanks. That makes it harder for teams to dedicate someone to mark Jorginho and allows the midfielder more freedom to roam about the pitch in support. Roberto Mancini has found a role for Jorginho in the 4-3-3 that benefits the player better than a static, circuit based approach was able to.
3. Better coverage in front and behind
One of the biggest overall criticisms of Jorginho overall has been his defensive contributions. This is one of the places where stats and the eye test can easily diverge. On the stats sheet, Jorginho is one of the best in the league and covers some of the most distance in the league. To the eye, however, it is hard not to notice the amount of times he gets caught in behind or out ran to a ball.
No one can really argue that Jorginho is an immensely physical player. He’s full of endurance and he’s not going to get thrown off the ball easily, but he is slow. While speed is often an overrate attribute, it’s less so when the player is the last man in midfield trying to track back. To overcome this, managers need to adapt to better shield the player.
This is one way in which Sarri was good for Jorginho. When Sarri’s Chelsea lost the ball, it wouldn’t immediately press for it back. Instead, the Blues would drop into a tight 4-4-2 shape before starting any press. This made them much harder to counter, even if it did delay the regain of possession. For Jorginho, this meant he was often bought time to take up better positions to screen any ball that made it through. There would still be moments when good opposition could break through the lines and leave Jorginho chasing, but for the most part he was able to be where he was needed due to the delay.
Just as Sarri comes out ahead here, Lampard comes out behind. Lampard’s Chelsea was very much geared towards the concept of “if we score more we win.” The Blues would commit so many bodies forward that it would not be unusual to see only two or three players left back for a counter. Now, if a press is good enough, this isn’t a terrible concept. But the press wasn’t often up to task. If the ball was not won quickly, the Blues were wide open and often outnumbered for the counter. This increased the amount of times Jorginho would be caught in behind due to his pace. It’s why Lampard was so desperate for a defensive midfielder and why he would use Kante more often in the role than others. To him, Jorginho simply did not have the physical attributes to fulfill the needs of the team.
Again, this is where Tuchel comes down somewhere in the middle. Under Tuchel, Jorginho is better shielded from in front and behind and this allows the player himself to have more time to screen the ball. Tuchel’s press regularly involves the closest players to the ball immediately pressing while others drop back to the next line. This creates a “net” that slows down the opponent’s possession if they do not go long. This, like Sarri’s defensive set-up, buys Jorginho time to position himself well enough to overcome any physical deficiencies.
On the other end, the extra centerback allows Jorginho to be more aggressive in his positioning. With Lampard, Jorginho would often have to consider being closer to the back line to help if needed. But the natural third centerback takes Jorginho’s place, allowing him to push higher and screen for the ball sooner. Furthermore, even if the ball does get past the midfield, that extra centerback serves as an extra road bump that buys Jorginho time to get back. Overall, this screening system brings the best out of Jorginho’s defensive abilities.
Italy also adds another layer. The term regista is most often associated with Andrea Pirlo. To get the best out of that role, Conte surrounded Pirlo with two work horse midfielders in Marchisio and Arturo Vidal. Similarly, at Napoli, Jorginho was surrounded by Marek Hamsik and Allan. For Italy, it was Nicolo Barella and Marco Verratti either side of Jorginho. In a three man midfield, having these hard-working midfielders acts in the same way the defensive shapes and presses do. They provide a net to filter the ball before it reaches Jorginho, allowing him to take up better positions to screen. What Chelsea has often lacked is two midfielders of that ilk to do the same for Jorginho, which is why the shape and press around him has had to adapt to bring the best out of him.
4. Summary
It’s always tricky giving out individual awards for a team game. Jorginho did not win Chelsea’s player of the season last year and few likely had him in the running. He wasn’t the best player for Chelsea in the Champions League (which is why N’Golo Kante won the Midfielder of the Year award over Jorginho). Jorginho wasn’t Italy’s best player either. So why did he win Player of the Year?
In a twist of fate, Jorginho won his individual award because it is a team game. Just as things around him had to change to bring the best out of him, Jorginho managed to bring the best out of those around him in turn. It’s not a mistake that he started most matches in route to the Champions League and Euros finals. It’s not a mistake that, when Jorginho was playing at his best, others around him were playing even better.
Jorginho’s role has never really been about playmaking or defense. It’s been about a rising tide lifting all boats. His trophy haul this year may not be down to him alone, but the effect he’s had on teams has been palpable. It’s taken a lot of stopping and starting and improving to get to this point, but that’s why the culmination feels so special.
Jorginho is likely never going to be the best player on any of his teams. He’s never going to be the player he was hyped up to be nor is he going to be the player he was assumed to be by detractors. But he will be a key figure for any side he takes part in and he will make those around him better. He’s the best player in Europe right now because he’s a multiplier, and Chelsea is lucky to have him.
What do you think about Jorginho’s trajectory over time? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!