Mikel Arteta says he’s pleased with the way Jorginho has integrated himself at Arsenal and was impressed with the Italian’s performance in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City.
At late notice, the January signing was given the nod to start the game in place of the injured Thomas Partey and looked tidy on the ball even as the visitors tightened the screw in the second half.
The Gunners had originally attempted to sign 21-year-old Moises Caicedo from Brighton to provide strength in depth in midfield but turned their attention to Jorginho when it became obvious a deal wasn’t going to be sanctioned.
While the decision underwhelmed a lot of supporters – many scarred by previous deals for 30-something Chelsea players – Arteta believes the player’s leadership qualities are already coming in useful.
“He’s been really good, he’s come into the team and earned the respect of everybody. You see his leadership, his understanding of the game, how he’s coaching everybody. I think he had a really good game,” said the manager ahead of Saturday’s trip to Aston Villa.
Defeat to City saw the Gunners surrender top spot in the Premier League for the first time since August. After a run of four games without a win, Arteta’s young squad face a real test of their mettle.
The Spaniard is hoping that his more experienced players, those who’ve won trophies elsewhere, can help his side navigate the choppy waters.
“You need players with those experiences who can guide, who can lead and can offer reassurances and show them the path of how it gets done,” said Arteta.
“If you want to win the league you are going to have to dig deep, sometimes you’ll lose one or two matches, sometimes you’re going to merit to win it and not lose it, sometimes you have to win it in 96 [minutes], sometimes you have to play with 10 men, you have to win in many different contexts.”
You could see those leadership qualities v City and btw he had a good game ! Good signing who could be invaluable now ?
I thought he was fantastic on Wednesday. Like others, wasn’t initially overjoyed with the signing but he’s a very tidy player. Mastered the art of those sneaky little interceptions and I thought he was good on the ball too, one tasty through ball to Eddie springs to mind
Thought he was arguably our best player against City, his positioning was exceptional. Hopefully will only get better as the rest of the team adjusts to him.
Yeah, yeah OK. Just get TP fit.
Yeah, yeah just get some hair.
Played really well against City and pleased we signed him. Glad he stepped up to the mark in the leadership are too
He certainly played well on Wednesday. With doubts over Partey’s on-going fitness I imagine we’ll see more of him now.
That said, I don’t think we can come to a realistic judgement about how good a buy he is for Arsenal until he’s played a quite few more times, but he’s made a good start.
His experience as a champion/player would prove invaluable to the rest of the team. A decent buy
If Arsenal fans want to see the team win the League, or Europa, they need to be exactly what they expect from the team and manager…Champion fans! Champions deserve to have champion fans, nothing less meets the standards of Arsenal or OUR manager. He demands players and fans who will do the work and get up every time we get knocked down…nothing less. Now…let’s get back to training so we are ready for every game no matter what happens….COYG!
Absolute belter into the top corner just now – Jorginho looks tasty!
And there we have it. Winning at the 96th min. What foresight from MA