Jorginho highlights mentality problem in stark warning to Arsenal teammates

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Jorginho has issued a warning to his Arsenal teammates.

The manner in which Arsenal allowed Wolves back into the game late on on Saturday was clearly a cause for concern for midfield veteran Jorginho.

The Gunners ultimately claimed all three points at the Emirates Stadium against Wolves, but it should have been a far more comfortable affair for Mikel Arteta’s side. 

Arsenal were 2-0 up within 13 minutes against Wolves, with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard both finding the back of the net following slick team moves. After that, though, the hosts had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead, but spurned them all.

This failure to kill the game meant that when Wolves pulled a goal back in the 86th minute it set up a nervy finish for the hosts. The concession of this goal also came as a result of some sloppy play at the back from Arsenal. Oleksandr Zinchenko was casual in possession and gave the ball away in the Gunners’ own penalty area, allowing Matheus Cunha to fire past David Raya.

From that point on, Arsenal defended well. Declan Rice proved to be a particularly difficult obstacle for Wolves to play around. Ultimately, though, the north London club put themselves in a position whereby they had to hold on and fight when they really ought to have been cruising to victory. 

Jorginho warns Arsenal teammates to respect the challenge they face

Jorginho came onto the pitch during injury time, to add some stability and experience as Arsenal sought to see out the game.

From the bench, the former Chelsea man will have seen problems occurring at both ends of the pitch – as Arsenal’s poor finishing and sloppy defending nearly came back to cost them dearly. On another day, with a bit of luck on their side, Wolves could have grabbed an equaliser and Arsenal would have lost vital points in the midst of a Premier League title race.

Jorginho has since spoken out publicly about what Arsenal must do in future to ensure that they don’t lose their grip on matches like this. As quoted by The Standard, the 31-year-old said, “in the Premier League the game is never finished. When you are 2-0, you need to think that the game is not finished yet. You need to keep pushing, all the way to have three, four [goals], and respect the game.”

“It is a mindset, to be honest, because you have the game completely under control and all of a sudden you stop doing the simple things that you need to keep doing, the things that got you there at that point.”

“Then you put yourself in trouble, because every single team in the League is strong and they come out. We need to keep pushing for one more, one more, one more. I think that is the mentality that we need to have.”

“I try to communicate a lot and try to help my team-mates with my body language and voice. I try to help them to finish the game and win the game, because the game is not finished until the referee blows the whistle. You need to keep pushing, keep fighting, until the end.”

Arteta will echo these sentiments. Arsenal need to be fully focused until the final whistle in every match. In what looks set to be a tight title race, every point matters, and even goal difference needs to be considered. The standard of the Premier League these days demands near perfection, and the Gunners cannot afford to let their standards slip at any point.