Breakdown: Filip Jorgenson to Chelsea

When the news broke that Dorde Petrovic was going to be sold by Chelsea, there was surprise among the fanbase including myself. But my surprise was more limited to a raised eyebrow because I had accepted the fact that the club was going to be run in ways I could never imagine nor really accept. So, I willingly cling onto this car that is my beloved football club, knowing the brake is wobbly and hoping it takes me back to the better days. 

Of course, the Serbian had managed to make the number one spot his own, partly due to Robert Sanchez getting injured and partly due to being a slightly better shot-stopper. Which probably also explains why he is getting sold. A profitable asset in an era where a players attractiveness is based on how much money they can fetch. Bad time to be attractive, I would say. 

And so, who is the chosen one? The one deemed to be a worthy successor of an average goalkeeper? Enter Filip Jorgenson of Denmark who plays for Villareal. Standing at six feet three, the 22 year old has been picked to be the goalkeeper who is going to be on the bench for Chelsea next season, being given the same role as the man he is replacing, compete against Rob Sanchez. Who, by the way, is also average. Chelsea are signing Filip Jorgenson on a deal estimated to be worth around 25 million euros. 

The Stats

Let us not question why Villareal are willing to accept a deal at half the release clause of the player. But let us look at some of the stats the big man has posted the past season. The Dane started 37 games last season in which he conceded 64 goals. One might think that unhealthy but that`s why PSxG is there which basically refers to whether or not a player has made more or less saves than expected. Unfortunately, Jorgenson has actually conceded two more goals than expected with a PSxG of -2.2 according to FBREF, suggesting an underperformance. He has a decent save percentage of 72% which only falls under the 55th percentile as per FBREF. 

An interesting part of the reasoning behind signing Jorgenson is his ability with the ball at his feet. Now, anyone in touch with the Chelsea circus should be aware of the demands on a goalkeeper under the Maresca system. The goalkeeper will more often than not be the starting point of moves or attacks. They must be extremely comfortable on the ball especially under pressure. So, what does the stats say? Jorgenson has a pass completion rate of 80.7%, just below the 82.1% of Sanchez's. His short passing accuracy is phenomenal at 99.6%, slightly higher than his competitions which is at 99.3%. Jorgensons medium range passing accuracy is also phenomenal at 99.7% while the accuracy tails off further the ball travels as his long pass accuracy hovers around the 49% mark. But of course, in the Maresca system, the expectation is that more often than not he is going to be passing short. 

Shot-Stopping

The saying in football, I am trying to sound like an expert which I am not, is that the eyes will always meet the stats and where there is a discrepancy, is a red flag. But this is more applicable to players who look good in the flesh but have poor stats and vice versa. And so, what have my amateur eyes told me about Filip Jorgenson? He is bang average. Period. There is nothing special about him which to be completely honest, isn't really the end of the world. 

The thing I like about Jorgenson is his footwork. Footwork is vital for goalkeepers which always them to be in line with the ball which then also allows them to position well to make any save easier. Jorgenson has decent footwork, is always taking steps in order to align with the ball. This allows him to always be on the path of the ball, turning complicated saves into simple stops. But there is a contradiction. He has decent footwork but average positioning. Yeah, you read that right. Maybe the problem here is with me and my amateur eyes but he has decent footwork that allows himself to align well for saving shots but then he positions himself before making the save poorly, at times. 

Maybe this is a case of him being poor before making the save but everything before that is decent. Like in this example. good footwork and then he dives a bit too much and so the balls hits just below his palms and ricochets to an attacker. So, maybe it isn't positioning  but the timing of his dives that are a problem. But his diving is also decent. Quick to get down to save the shots and he is also good in one v one or semi one v one scenarios. He is agile in dropping low and making himself big, forcing the attackers into early shots that he can easily save. The shots often bounce off his body. Jorgenson doesn't have the widest reach which he compensates with his footwork.

But there's a caveat to his decent shot stopping. He parries the ball into dangerous situations, far too often. He makes the dive, saves it and then parries the ball straight into the path of an opponent. Are his wrists weak? I do not think so but it is more a case of not adjusting his palms well. That slight adjustment, which directs the ball away from danger but what he does is, keeps his palms tight which kind of forces him to lose control of the direction of the ball and it inevitably bounces straight back or pops out from his grasp. This seems like an issue that can be worked upon so not the biggest of worries. 

 

Distribution

Sometimes how good a keepers distribution is depends on the system at hand. Under Pochettino, the emphasis was more on safe passes to anyone open to receiving. Now though, at Chelsea, the focus will be on the goalkeeper playing actively as an outfielder with the ball. He will oftentimes have to leave his box to form a pivot in order to play out from the back. The stats suggest he is capable of doing so but at Villareal he played a decent amount of long balls. 

The ground passes required at Villareal are simple and safe which also explains the phenomenal accuracy he highlighted but then, so did Robert Sanchez. How will he fare when pressed and when he needs to find his own solution which does not include hoofing it out of reach? He is decent with the ball at his feet, nothing like an Ederson or Onana. Passable really. Something that can be worked on just like how Petrovic's distribution improved as the season went on. 

I am not a particular fan of how Jorgenson distributes the ball long. His passes are too floaty, meaning they stay in the air for a long time. What this does is allow the defenders to react and so his teammates are already being pressured before the ball arrives which leads them to losing out on duels and thus giving away possession. 

Conclusion

Filip Jorgenson to Chelsea is a here we go but it is not a signing that has managed to excite me at all, more of a sigh than anything else. But, its not all doom and gloom with goalkeepers following a different timeline compared to players in other positions in terms of growth. And Jorgenson is 22, meaning there is enough time for improvements that might see him turn into a very good goalkeeper. But right now, he is symbolic of where Chelsea are. Hypothetically can become good but is average.