LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 28: Jorginho of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Emirates Stadium on May 28, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
3 reasons why Jorginho could be a key player next season
by Adam Keys
3. Squad versatility
Arteta has shown over the last couple of seasons that he values versatility in his players, and favours signing those who can play in multiple positions, which is why he wanted Moises Caicedo in January.
Jorginho doesn’t offer that. But, what he does offer is a superb rotation option with Thomas Partey, allowing the Ghanaian to drop into right-back when required, or play in a double pivot, both of which we saw towards the end of the season.
🚨Agent of Jorginho tells @TuttoMercatoWeb that while no new deal has been dicussed, Arsenal have option to extend player deal till 2025.
Agent also says Player has had 6 wonderful months at Arsenalhttps://t.co/gNUDwcrMhD pic.twitter.com/WWI76ynU6d
— Doc (@karthikadhaigal) May 31, 2023
If Arsenal do sign Declan Rice, Jorginho will be a player who can rotate with him and play alongside him, and if needed, Rice can also drop into centre-back, which again increases the options Arteta has with his squad.
These options weren’t used enough by Arteta earlier in the season, but his end-of-season tweaking suggests that he is going to be more open to moving players around, safe in the knowledge that Jorginho can direct things from the six position and keep things ticking to the usual standards.
Jorginho started eight games and featured six times from the bench, and there were calls throughout the season for him to be used more, with such calls being justified by his end-of-season performances.</p>
<h2><strong><em>3 reasons Jorginho could be a key player next season</em></strong></h2>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jorginho wasn’t the most popular signing in January, but he’s had a strong impact since arriving and could be a key player for <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Arsenal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#Arsenal</a> next season. He is a master at retaining possession and plays a lot of progessive passes, giving us real stability. <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/afc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#afc</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://t.co/IGex39Xn5f">pic.twitter.com/IGex39Xn5f
<p>— Adam Keys (@adamkeys_) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/adamkeys_/status/1664150030129958918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>June 1, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<h2>1. Control</h2>
<p>Few players can read the game like Jorginho and continuously want it at their feet. He’s a tempo setter and was one of the first to earn the classic <em>regista</em> title for that reason.</p>
<p>In the current crop of Arsenal players, only <a title="Importance of Oleksandr Zinchenko highlighted in Brighton defeat" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/15/importance-oleksandr-zinchenko-highlighted-brighton-defeat/" rel="">Oleksandr ZInchenko</a> has that quality of continuously showing, recycling, keeping play moving, and demanding the ball; traits which are all crucial in big games.</p>
<p>With William Saliba expected to be back for pre-season, Arsenal will once again be playing with a high line, meaning Jorginho will have two big centre-backs right behind him, which significantly reduces the distances between him and his teammates.</p>
<p>Those short distances allow him to dictate and coach on the pitch, as he always has options to pass to, which essentially allows him to work the pitch like a chess board and manoeuvre his team up the park one touch at a time, by working the triangles in the middle.</p>
<p><em>Continued to next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 Leadership </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-134252" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1785,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1252942050-scaled.jpeg" alt="SEO title preview:3 things we learnt about Jorginho against Newcastle" width="2560" height="1785" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1252942050-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1252942050-768x535.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1252942050-1536x1071.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1252942050-2048x1428.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"></p>
<h2><strong>2. Leadership</strong></h2>
<p>As mentioned, Jorginho is a coach on the pitch. He is the player pointing, shouting, organising and leading everything in his area of the pitch.</p>
<p>With Martin Odegaard leading the press ahead of him and becoming a more vocal character in his own right, Arsenal have now added another tactical leader on the pitch, who can carry out Arteta’s instructions to the letter.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨Ray Parlour has plumped for Jorginho as the Gunners’ signing of the season.</p>
<p>🗣️ He said: “I’m going off the value of the players signed. Trossard has also been an excellent signing. Jesus leads the line very well.”</p>
<p>🗣️ “But probably for the money they spent and the experience… <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://t.co/yBJz75LpPN">pic.twitter.com/yBJz75LpPN
<p>— afcsphere (@afcsphere) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/afcsphere/status/1663477523143958530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>May 30, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>With <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/16/will-granit-xhaka-remembered-arsenal/">Granit Xhaka</a> leaving, Arsenal are losing a member of the leadership group, and while the hope is that he is directly replaced by Declan Rice, having a leader like Jorginho who has won the biggest trophies will be key as expectations have already changed at Arsenal.</p>
<p>Top four is no longer the goal. The fans, players and Arteta want to compete for the title and the cups, and to do that rotation is crucial, so having a leader like Jorginho who can step in at any time will be huge for the team’s ability to stay fresh.</p>
<p><em>Continued to next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 Squad versatility </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-134907" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1706,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1256515472-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1706" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1256515472-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1256515472-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1256515472-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1256515472-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"></p>
<h2><strong>3. Squad versatility</strong></h2>
<p>Arteta has shown over the last couple of seasons that he values versatility in his players, and favours signing those who can play in multiple positions, which is why he wanted Moises Caicedo in January.</p>
<p>Jorginho doesn’t offer that. But, what he does offer is a superb rotation option with Thomas Partey, allowing the Ghanaian to drop into right-back when required, or play in a double pivot, both of which we saw towards the end of the season.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨Agent of Jorginho tells <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/TuttoMercatoWeb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@TuttoMercatoWeb that while no new deal has been dicussed, Arsenal have option to extend player deal till 2025.</p>
<p>Agent also says Player has had 6 wonderful months at Arsenal<a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://t.co/gNUDwcrMhD">https://t.co/gNUDwcrMhD <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://t.co/WWI76ynU6d">pic.twitter.com/WWI76ynU6d
<p>— Doc (@karthikadhaigal) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://twitter.com/karthikadhaigal/status/1663953094219304962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>May 31, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>If Arsenal do sign Declan Rice, Jorginho will be a player who can <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/06/05/3-reasons-jorginho-key-player-arsenal/3/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/05/16/5-key-features-of-the-sum-up-the-title-charge-for-arsenal/">rotate with him and play alongside him, and if needed, Rice can also drop into centre-back, which again increases the options Arteta has with his squad.</p>
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<p>These options weren’t used enough by Arteta earlier in the season, but his end-of-season tweaking suggests that he is going to be more open to moving players around, safe in the knowledge that Jorginho can direct things from the six position and keep things ticking to the usual standards.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
