Lampard pleased with Jorginho’s attitude, quality, intention

Having started both games so far for Chelsea, Jorginho is off to a good start in fulfilling his stated intention of changing the narrative surrounding him from “Sarri’s Son” to “Chelsea’s Jorginho”.

And that pleases his current head coach, who’s not Sarri.

“I am pleased to see his comments. He should be seen as Chelsea’s Jorginho. As a player, you know that you go and work for the club. He has a real passion for football and performance. I love that.”

Lampard has spoken highly of Jorginho, Chelsea’s most expensive midfielder ever, on several occasions already this summer, but the 27-year-old’s performance against Liverpool in the Super Cup on Wednesday especially impressed him.

Jorginho, sitting deepest and most central of the three midfielders, did not shy away from tackles, made several interceptions, and of course lead the team in short (and long!) passes. But it weren’t his numbers — or his coolly taken penalties — that especially impressed the head coach. As before, Lampard was most impressed by Jorginho’s leadership, determination, and other such intangibles.

“I thought Jorginho was fantastic the other night. He was constantly talking to people around him and constantly talking to the backline to drag them up and playing with quality. The players are the ones who drive that when they get out there. He is a fantastic player. I saw that on the first day of training in Dublin.

“Talking about his attitude, he is a driver of the group and he has real quality. I am fortunate in midfield at the moment. It gives us problems in terms of competition between Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Barkley, Mount, Ruben is coming back and others. But Jorginho has really shown himself to be a top-quality player to me already.”

-Frank Lampard; source: Goal

Many were predicting that Jorginho would either run after Sarri this summer, lest he fade into the background a la Danny Drinkwater. Instead, he looks to be staying front and center. Surprise!