Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Chelsea news: ‘He was like Aquilani’ - Paul Merson compares Blues star to Liverpool flop
CHELSEA midfielder Jorginho was made to look like Alberto Aquilani in the 3-1 defeat to Tottenham last weekend.
That is the opinion of Sky Sports pundit, Arsenal hero and Chelsea fan Paul Merson.
Maurizio Sarri suffered his first Premier League defeat as manager when Tottenham brushed the Blues aside at Wembley.
It was also Jorginho’s first league defeat as a Chelsea player since following Sarri from Napoli in the summer.
The Italy international has had a fine start to life in England and has managed to push N’Golo Kante out of his preferred central midfield position.
Jorginho was made to look like Aquilani last week
But Merson claims Tottenham blunted Jorginho’s strengths and made him look like former Liverpool midfielder Aquilani.
Aquilani joined Liverpool with huge promise in 2009 but after just 28 appearances and two loan spells, the Italian left Anfield and returned to the Serie A.
“We’ve been going mad about Jorginho, how great he is, how brilliant he is,” Merson said.
“He was made to look like Aquilani last week.
“As soon as you got around him he couldn’t get around anybody.
“His passing’s great but if you put him under pressure he lost the ball.
“He couldn’t get around the pitch.”
Merson has been impressed by Sarri’s impact at Stamford Bridge.
But he admits the defeat to Tottenham leaves plenty of questions to answer.
“They have done great this season don’t get me wrong,” Merson continued.
“But you’ve got to question that performance, it was shocking.
“It was shocking from the word go.”
Chelsea return to league action on Sunday when they face local rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
The Cottagers won their first game under Claudio Ranieri last weekend.