Ian Wright claims Chelsea dominated £12m Arsenal player, he lacked any pace

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Ian Wright wasn’t too impressed with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s decision to start Jorginho against Chelsea as he struggled with the pace of the game.

Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge was one of the main topics of discussion.

Arsenal looked off the pace for much of the game with Mikel Arteta’s side not at their fluent best.

They had to rely on a Robert Sanchez mistake to get back into the game and Leandro Trossard saved their blushes in the closing moments.

Chelsea’s league position doesn’t currently reflect how strong the side currently is.

In particular, their midfield now looks like one of the strongest in the Premier League with Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher both in great form.

Ian Wright was unsure why Jorginho started against Chelsea as he simply doesn’t have the pace to keep up with some of the most energetic midfielders in the league.

He was also unimpressed by Martin Odegaard who was kept very quiet by Moises Caicedo in the final third.

It meant all the pressure was on Declan Rice to try and give Arsenal any control and while he did have a very good game, the Gunners were outrun for much of the match in the centre of the pitch.

Wright unsure why Jorginho started against Chelsea

Talking about the balance of the match, Wright said: “I just feel the midfield again like you mentioned it Jorginho going back to his old place, no disrespect, with his lack of real drive and movement, I thought they had his number.

“And you know what, they had Martin Odegaard’s number as well, so it was one of those where we needed to recognise that quicker.”

The £12m Italian international retained his place in the starting line-up following a very solid performance against Manchester City before the international break.

However, with Chelsea outnumbering Arsenal in midfield, Jorginho simply couldn’t cover enough ground to make an impact off the ball and many would agree with Wright that he didn’t look up to the task.

Wright also said that Oleksandr Zinchenko has been missing Granit Xhaka and Saturday’s match was another example of where he’d have been brilliant to have in the centre of the pitch.

It’s a transfer Arteta will hope he doesn’t live to regret as the season goes on.

His replacement Kai Havertz looked bright when he came off the bench, but is still a very different player to the Swiss international.