Mikel Arteta has spoken highly of one Arsenal player following Sunday afternoon’s Premier League blockbuster against Liverpool.
Hosting their domestic rivals in what was their 200th encounter, Arsenal welcomed Jurgen Klopp’s Reds to the Emirates and put in what turned out to be an exceptional home performance.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring following an electric counter-attack, and although Luis Diaz pulled one back just moments before the half-time break, Arsenal were able to regain their lead, and then double it, again in the second half.
Gabriel Martinelli was able to pounce on an awful error by Virgil van Dijk and Alisson before Leandro Trossard killed the game in injury time.
And although the goalscorers, as well as those responsible for some game-changing individual errors, will steal the headlines, Arteta has rightfully picked out another of his unsung heroes.
Midfielder Jorginho, who was paired with Declan Rice at the heart of the Gunners’ midfield, had an excellent game. The Italian bossed the centre of the pitch and seldom put a foot wrong, and his manager noticed.
“Jorginho is unbelievable. Example, role model,” he told reporters in his post-match interview, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano.
“He’s been in a lot of pain, he had an issue but he didn’t want to stop.”
“For all the kids, for everybody at the club, you want to look in the mirror at somebody, just look at him and how he behaves.”
Jorginho’s involvement yesterday stemmed from the fact Gabriel Jesus was deemed not fit enough to start.
Moving Kai Havertz into a more striking role freed up space in midfield, and with Martin Odegaard taking the side’s armband and playing in his usual number 10 role and Rice in behind, Jorginho was able to seamlessly slot in and help dictate the play.