Ferdinand Rebukes Jorginho For Arsenal Performance

By Max Wise

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has harshly criticized Jorginho’s performances for Chelsea after the Italian midfielder’s inept output for the Blues in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

First half goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny condemned Chelsea to their fourth league defeat of the season, cutting their lead over Arsenal and Manchester United, who are on fifth and sixth place respectively, to just three points.

Jorginho, who was signed for £57m from Napoli in the summer, has made 25 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season, scoring once, but despite making more than 2000 passes in his outings, he is yet to register a single assist.

“Jorginho is someone who sets the tempo of the game. You get the ball to him through the middle third of the pitch, he’s very good,” Ferdinand fired to BT Sport.

“How many assists has he got this season? Around 2000 passes, no assists.

“He’s not a great defender. Once again, in a game like this against a big team, he gets overrun in midfield.

“He can’t run.

“So, he doesn’t give you anything defensively, and he doesn’t give you anything at the other end of the pitch.”

One player who could have replaced Jorginho in the Chelsea line-up is Cesc Fabregas, but the Spaniard was allowed to leave for Monaco last week, meaning Chelsea need to find a replacement for the World Cup winner.

Chelsea are next in action in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Tottenham Hotspurs at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, needing to overturn a 1-0 defeat suffered in the first leg.