Jorginho on the power of belief, perseverance, and mistakes in Chelsea’s 4-4 draw with Ajax

As we continue taking in the madness of Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge, when Chelsea managed to climb out of a 4-1 hole to draw 4-4 against Ajax Amsterdam, we are left to reflect on the strange things that not only happened, but the stranger things that also could’ve been.

One such thing could’ve been as for Chelsea to actually win the game, as one should probably always expect against just 9 men. That’s the part that’s gnawing at Chelsea vice captain Jorginho, who scored a brace of penalties in the process with his usual cool, calm collected-ness.

“We didn’t win and we should have done. In this situation when you are with two more players, I think we could win and we should.

“[We have learnt] that we cannot make mistakes, [at] this level of football you can’t. Every single mistake we can lose the game. We could play with more calm when we had two more players, not go for goals straight away, pass a little bit more to find space. I think we learnt that we can improve from this game.”

“I think the most important thing is we didn’t give up. When it was 4-1, it is hard to believe and we did. It is so important for us.”

-Jorginho; Source: Evening Standard

Tactical issues aside, the match certainly showcased Chelsea’s team spirit, as well as the naivete of youth — both in a good sense and in the bad. It takes an extremely winning or an extremely gullible mentality to believe in an historic comeback, which is what Lampard was apparently selling with his half-time talk. We’re definitely the latter, though we’re working and making progress on the former.