Jorginho
started his career as a conventional central midfielder
at Verona and played well enough to secure a move to Napoli, then managed by Rafael Benitez.
It was in his second season at Napoli where manager Maurzio Sarri converted him into a
passing maestro, taking his game to a new level.
As Napoli improved, so did Jorginho. He regularly topped passing charts, making an unfathomable
number of passes as Napoli choked teams with the ball.
Napoli’s consistency was built on dominating the ball and Jorginho was at the heart of
it all, acting as the grand conductor of Sarri’s orchestra.
In the 2017/18 season, Jorginho’s unbelievable passing stats powered a Napoli team that earned
91 points and almost won the Serie A title.
Jorginho then accompanied manager Sarri to Chelsea, with the club seeking to replicate
Napoli’s style in the Premier League. While he hasn’t always been appreciated
in England, he has still won the Europa League and Champions League while also making the
finals of domestic cup competitions. Love him or hate him, he has proven his ability
on every stage he has been on.
Jorginho has 5 main strengths: • Build-up passing
• Playing under pressure • Reading of the game
• Durability • An incredibly effective penalty technique
Strengths – Build-up passing Jorginho is a passing machine, at times making
more passes than opponent midfielders combined. His ability to keep the ball moving means
opponent defences can never settle, therefore opening space for attackers to exploit.
Every build-up passing metric shows Jorginho as a player who sets the tempo for his team.
Very few players can match him in terms of sheer volume of passes.
While Jorginho is not an assist machine like Fabregas, he is comfortable passing close
to goal too.
Strengths – Ability to receive Jorginho’s volume of passing is a result
of his ability to receive and play under pressure. He is a step ahead of most opponents, remaining
calm when pressed in order to get some space and time.
In terms of receiving the ball under pressure and moving it on, there are very few players
as good as Jorginho statistically.
Strengths – Reading of the game While Jorginho is not the most gifted athletically,
he reads the game excellently, often popping up at the right place and time. This enables
him to recover possession over stronger and faster players.
Jorginho’s reading of the game is reflected in his interceptions and ball-recoveries,
often ranking among the very best in Europe in this regard.
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Durability Jorginho has remarkable durability. He has
only missed 3 games due to injury in his career and none since 2015/16. 126.381 km in CL,
86.6 km in Euros Jorginho also covered the most distance for
both Chelsea’s and Italy’s European titles, again showing exceptional durability and stamina.
Strengths – Penalty technique The flashiest aspect of Jorginho’s game
is his hop skip and jump penalty technique. The technique has allowed him to score over
85% of his attempted penalties.
Despite his strengths, Jorginho is not perfect. He has 2 major weaknesses:
• Long-range passing • Lack of athleticism
Weakness – Long-range passing While Jorginho is an outstanding short passer
his long-range passing is not great. He is prone to getting the weight of passes wrong,
thereby making it hard for his teammates. While his long-range passing stats are great,
the eye test shows this is not a strength of his.
Weakness – Athleticism and 1v1 Defending Jorginho’s lack of strength and speed is
often a problem in the physical Premier League. He gets beaten by dribblers all too easily,
leading to defensive issues for his team.
Weakness – Athleticism and 1v1 Defending Jorginho’s lack of strength and speed is
often a problem in the physical Premier League. He gets beaten by dribblers all too easily,
leading to defensive issues for his team. This lack of physicality is most often seen
in the way opponents dribble past him. One-on-one defending is arguably Jorginho’s weakest
attribute, even in Italy. However, Jorginho’s lack of physicality
can be covered by the right system and right teammates such as Kante and Barella.
Fit at Chelsea After years of criticism in England, Jorginho
appears to have found a manager who gets the best out of him in Thomas Tuchel.
His partnership with Kante was the bedrock of Chelsea’s Champions League win, with
the Frenchman covering for his weaknesses with aplomb.
Jorginho eases the burden on Kante with his ability to receive and play under pressure,
allowing Chelsea’s number 7 to play at his best levels.
While Jorginho isn’t world-class such as someone like Verratti or Kante, he doesn’t
need to be. His game is focused on the finer details that allow his better teammates to
shine and every team needs a player like him. He is the quiet mastermind behind the success
of both Italy and Chelsea this season.
Summary Strengths:
+ Outstanding build-up passing + Composure under pressure
+ Great reading of the game + Exceptional durability
+ An effective penalty technique Weaknesses:
- Inconsistent long-range passing - Lack of speed and strength
That brings us to the end of this video, a thorough top-to-bottom look of Jorginho, an
underrated part of two European title winners. Don’t forget to like this video, comment
and subscribe to Football Per 90 for more in-depth analysis like this. Until next time,
goodbye.