Arsenal star Jorginho is often viewed as a coach on the pitch given his vision and intelligence in midfield, and he is actually doing his coaching badges off it.
The veteran’s future is unclear, with Arsenal keen to extend his contract, and part of their long-term planning could be to keep him on as a coach beyond his playing days.
Mikel Arteta has previously claimed that Jorginho is the most intelligent player he has ever worked with, and his understanding of the game is second to none.
Jorginho and Aaron Ramsdale were recently involved in coaching Arsenal academy sides as part of their coaching badges, and details have now emerged over one brilliant tactical idea Jorginho implemented in his side.
Jorginho implements tactical ideas into Arsenal youth side
A report from The Athletic has now revealed that Jorginho, coaching an under-15 side, implemented a surprise tactic which reaped rewards for his team against Ramsdale’s.
With his side struggling against Ramsdale’s, Jorginho was encouraged to set his team up to play it long. However, he chose instead to make both full-backs invert, with the central midfielders dropping deep to help play the ball out of the press.
Professional Football Association coach developer David Bridges revealed what he told Jorginho to do when his side were struggling, and admitted his amazement at what he instead did to tweak his side.
“Me and my colleague Matty Joseph were on the sideline saying (to each other), ‘Look at the space in behind to go a bit longer. Just miss out that first press and make it easier’. We suggested it and he (Jorginho) said, ‘No, no, don’t worry,” Bridges revealed.
“He went back into the session, inverted both full-backs into central midfield and put the midfield pivot right next to the goalkeeper on the goal line. His team got out of the press four times out of the next four. We looked at each and went, ‘Wow, what just happened there?’.”
Jorginho following Mikel Arteta path into coaching
Whilst it is early days, all signs point towards Jorginho becoming a successful coach in the future, and he will follow the path of many defensive midfielders.
Arteta himself ended his career as a defensive midfielder who thrived off his passing skill and intelligence before going straight into coaching alongside fellow ex-midfielder Pep Guardiola.
The likes of Thiago Motta, who was similar in playing style to Jorginho, and Xabi Alonso, have both enjoyed positive starts to their coaching careers, whilst Xavi Hernandez also won La Liga with Barcelona last season.
Jorginho still has plenty in the tank for his playing days, but he may be planning ahead for a potential future in coaching already.
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