Arsenal star spotted doing something unusual to David Raya and teammates v Villa

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Arsenal had to face Aston Villa without their manager Mikel Arteta, as he served a touchline ban after picking up a yellow card against Luton Town.

Assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg was the figurehead for the team in the Spaniard’s absence, and given how vociferous he normally is, the players were in need of additional leadership from the sidelines.

This ended up arriving from veteran midfielder Jorginho. Like Arteta himself, Jorginho arrived at the club as an experienced central midfielder whose intelligence on the pitch sets him apart from his peers.

Arsenal dominated the game, but fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Unai Emery’s side, but Jorginho, who did not come off the bench, did something during the game that stood out.

Jorginho’s leadership from the touchline

During the game at Villa Park, journalist Sam Dean pointed out that Jorginho acted like another coach whilst on the bench at Arsenal, helping lead his teammates from the touchline.

This even extended to goalkeeper David Raya coming up to the technical area to talk to him, in an unprecedented move.

“Jorginho spent most of that half on the touchline in Villa’s half. Not warming up, but coaching all the Arsenal players. Pointing and gesturing like Arteta would,” he posted on X.

“David Raya has just run over to the touchline to talk tactics with Jorginho. Not with the Arsenal coaches. Really can’t remember this sort of thing happening before,” he added.

Jorginho’s usefulness in the Arsenal squad

The 31-year-old is a consummate professional within the squad, and has also performed well in recent months when called upon at the base of midfield.

Jorginho’s future is unclear, with the Italian out of contract at the end of the season, but his durability, performance levels and leadership all help make a good case that he should be in line for a contract extension.

If he is happy to play a backup role, with Declan Rice thriving at the base of midfield and Arsenal seemingly in the market for another midfielder, then he could continue to play an important role in the squad, whilst also helping the younger players at the club develop.

Jorginho arrived at the club from Chelsea in January, and at the time a lot of fans were underwhelmed. However, he has since proven his value as one of the most experienced winners in the squad, and is clearly ready to take a bigger step in a potential coaching or leadership role as he reaches the latter stages of his career.