Chelsea boss Lampard praises leadership of ‘driver’ Jorginho

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has praised midfielder Jorginho for his ‘driving’ leadership qualities.

The former England midfielder believes the much-maligned Italian will have a big part to play at Stamford Bridge this season.

How important is Jorginho for Chelsea? Five things to know…

• Jorginho was signed by Maurizio Sarri for £57 million last summer.
• The Italy international was booed by his own supporters as the club struggled last season.
• Sarri left the club this summer to join Juventus, leading to question marks over the midfielder’s Chelsea role.
• Jorginho has started both Chelsea’s Premier League games this season in his favoured deep-lying midfielder role.
• Lampard believes the 27-year-old will be a key “driver” for his young team.

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It has been a tough start for Chelsea following a summer of upheaval. The club started yet another campaign with a new manager at the helm after Maurizio Sarri left for Juventus and his successor, Lampard, has had to deal with a transfer embargo.

This has seen the Blues unable to purchase new players with the club forced to play some of their young players rather than bring in additional options from elsewhere.

Jorginho has started both their games in the top flight this season and Lampard believes the former Napoli man has shown key leadership qualities, having previously had his role in the team questioned supporters.

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Speaking ahead of the Leicester game, the Chelsea boss said: “I thought Jorginho was fantastic the other night [vs Liverpool in the Uefa Super Cup.

“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 [N’Golo] Kante, Jorginho, [Matteo] Kovacic, [Ross] Barkley, [Mason] Mount, Ruben [Loftus-Cheek] is coming back and others.

“But Jorginho has really shown himself to be a top-quality player to me already. 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.”

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Jorginho will be hoping for a better campaign in 2019/20 after being on the receiving end of criticism for much of his debut campaign in English football.

Chelsea are still searching for a first win under Lampard after losing to Manchester United on the opening day before drawing with Leicester on Sunday. They did, however, take Liverpool to penalties in the Uefa Super Cup last week after a good display in a 2-2 draw.

They face a trip to East Anglia this weekend when they take on newly-promoted Norwich.