Former Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has likened Mikel Arteta’s fixation on set pieces to ‘homework’.
However, he admitted the Gunners’ success in that area has made the penny finally drop for their Premier League rivals regarding their importance.
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In an interview with The Times, the former Italy international opened up on his two-and-a-half years at the Emirates Stadium where he helped Arsenal to three consecutive runners-up finishes in the Premier League.
Arriving from Chelsea in January 2023, Jorginho hit the ground running and provided some much needed experience and poise in the Gunners’ midfield, but was slowly reduced to a bit-part role by the end of his stint.
In total, Jorginho made 79 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions before joining Flamengo last June.
Jor kidding
However, only 46 of those were starts.
Going further, he was named in the Gunners’ starting line-up 28 times from of his 53 Premier League appearances for the club.
The constant injections from the bench left Jorginho battling to keep the internal fire burning.
“When a player is not on the pitch, it’s hard to keep motivated,” Jorginho said.
“I felt I needed to go somewhere where I was going to play with joy.”
Jorginho was then quizzed about Arsenal’s emphasis on set pieces, which have contributed 19 of their 62 goals (31 per cent) in the Premier League this term, per Opta.
It is a league-leading figure and an element of Arsenal’s game plan that has them agonisingly close to winning their first Premier League crown in 22 years.
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Although Jorginho understands its importance, he was at pains to state the focus cannot entirely be on set pieces because it won’t allow for ‘beautiful football.’
Gunner be a chore
“It does feel like homework, that’s the reality,” Jorginho said.
“But when you do your homework and then you have the test, you have a good result.
“I think people are realising now the importance of set pieces… Why is it a problem to focus and work more on it, when you get the results from that which make everybody happy?
“But the thing is, if you focus just on this, and then you forget about the football side, then of course, you’re not going to have beautiful football.
“So I think it’s all about balance.”
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Despite Arsenal within grasp of a drought-breaking Premier League title, a slip-up against Bournemouth last Saturday allowed second-placed Manchester City to move six points away from the league-leading Gunners.
Given City have a game in hand, they could move level on points with Arsenal should they beat Arteta’s side on Sunday and in their rescheduled fixture against Crystal Palace.
With the threat of Arsenal being the bridesmaids for an agonising fourth-straight season, Jorginho had some sage advice for his former teammates on how to snap out of their mini-slump.
“I hope they forget about the last few years, because if they think about it, then they could put pressure on themselves,” Jorginho said.
“I think they just should realise how strong they are and what a strong position they are in.”
