Luciano Spalletti has praised Arsenal star Jorginho ahead of Italy’s crunch clash against Ukraine tomorrow night.
Speaking to the media ahead of a must-win game for Italy, Spalletti discussed Jorginho’s recent penalty miss against North Macedonia.
Jorginho’s penalty record for Italy hasn’t been brilliant of late and he came under fire after his most recent miss, despite the 5-2 win.
Indeed, Giuseppe Bergomi urged the £12 million midfielder to remove himself from penalty duties on Saturday.
And while Spalletti is unsure whether or not the Arsenal star will remain on spot-kicks tomorrow night, he has praised his character.
Spalletti praises Arsenal star Jorginho
As quoted by Pazzi di Fanta, Spalletti was once again asked about Jorginho’s recent record on penalties.
“Jorginho? He took the penalty because he has personality, he also took it well because of the way the goalkeeper had set himself,” he said.
“Maybe he could have angled it more, but that’s his characteristic to beat penalties. We also have other penalty takers, maybe we would put him in difficulty by sending him back to the penalty spot as I did in a press conference the other day.
“We also evaluate other situations. As a playmaker he has organisation not only with the ball, but also by indicating positions to his teammates. And then he has personality, he is used to managing the team.”
Jorginho looks set to start for Italy once again tomorrow night, with Spalletti’s men needing a draw to book their place at next year’s Euros in Germany.
While the Italian midfielder has come under fire on international duty of late, he remains an important player for club and country.
The former Chelsea man isn’t an automatic starter at Arsenal but he provides quality cover in the middle of the park for Arteta due to his experience.