Arsenal signed Jorginho in the final hours of the winter transfer window. Jürgen Klopp will watch Mikel Arteta’s plan closely as he seeks to revive Fabinho.
Unlike Liverpool, Arsenal was active in the transfer market as the deadline of the winter window approached earlier this week. Mikel Arteta needed to add a holding midfielder to his ranks, especially given the uncertain fitness issues surrounding Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny.
After initially trying to land Reds-linked Moisés Caicedo from Brighton, the Gunners ended up with Jorginho, who made the surprise move from Chelsea. The Italian is now 31 years old and past his prime, but his switch perhaps offers an insight into Arsenal’s desperate need for reinforcements.
Jorginho is a curious addition, as in many ways, he’s nothing like Partey, who has held the fort for Arteta throughout the whole season so far. Currently top of the Premier League, Arsenal’s attacks have been built upon the defensive strength of the Ghanaian, who is a natural when covering lots of ground and nullifying opposition counter-attacks.
The man who has been signed as a support act for him, Jorginho, is known for being nowhere near as mobile. The Brazilian-born midfielder is slight, stands just 1.78m tall and isn’t particularly quick across the ground.
In fact, he offers a comparable range of qualities to Fabinho in that sense, who has struggled for Liverpool this term. Now 29 years old, many supporters have started suggesting the South American should be sold this summer, simply because of his inability to track opponents, cover ground and manage spaces for Jürgen Klopp in comparison to previous years.
The suggestion has been that Fabinho is effectively past his best, and one of the supposed reasons behind his struggles has been Klopp’s decision to field him in midfield alongside Harvey Elliott, who many believe to be an attacker rather than a player for the middle of the pitch.
It remains to be seen whether Fabinho and Elliott can thrive together in the same midfield trio, but that question explains why Arsenal’s late January move for Jorginho could be of interest to Klopp on Merseyside.
When he’s presented with his debut, he’s likely to be deployed at the base of Arteta’s midfield trident, behind Granit Xhaka and a certain Martin Ødegaard. The Norwegian has prospered at the Emirates Stadium this season, but he possesses a comparable skill set to Elliott at Anfield.
Both players are technical, progressive, incisive in tight spaces and eager to press without the ball, yet the pair lack physicality and they rarely regain the ball for their teammates upon inspection of the underlying numbers posted by them in the Premier League this term.
Overall, Jorginho and Ødegaard offer a similar dynamic as a duo to Fabinho and Elliott, meaning Klopp could be a very interested spectator from afar when the two players are fielded in the same engine room.
If they struggle and Arsenal suddenly become defensively open, Liverpool’s problems against the ball will be understood, but if they thrive, Klopp will have evidence that his original idea can work when the system as a whole is harmonious. He could make tweaks based on Arteta’s approach, creating a new-look, more workable partnership between Fabinho and Elliott.
Ultimately, Arteta could essentially be conducting an acid test on behalf of the Reds over the next six months.
SOURCE: liverpool.com
