'Seriously inadequate': Nation's media slate £12m Arsenal player for 'disappearing' at Euro 2024 last night

Two Arsenal players were in action at Euro 2024 last night but one seemingly failed to impress for his country.

David Raya was handed a rare start for Spain as Luis de la Fuente made 10 changes after his side had already booked their place in the knockout stages.

As had become a regular occurrence for Raya last term for Arsenal, the goalkeeper kept a clean sheet as Spain beat Albania 1-0.

Things were a little less straightforward for Jorginho and Italy as they needed a last-minute equaliser to guarantee their place in the last-16.

Luke Modric’s effort looked to have secured Croatia a spot in the knockout phases but Croatian hearts were broken Mattia Zaccagni netted with the last kick of the game.

Yet, Jorginho has again received criticism from the Italian media following the Croatia game after an underwhelming display against Spain last week.

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Jorginho slated by Italian media after latest Euro 2024 display

Jorginho was replaced by Nicolo Fagioli in the 81st minute as Italy searched for an equaliser.

Stadio News were unimpressed with the Arsenal midfielder’s display, handing him a 4.5/10 match rating.

The outlet wrote: “Another seriously inadequate game. He should be the team’s metronome but he limits himself to short, horizontal passes without ever risking the play.”

Sport Mediaset were slightly less harsh by rating Jorginho’s display as a 5.5. But the outlet had similar complaints over his lack of progressive passing.

“Preoccupied more with defensive duties than anything else, he plays only and exclusively horizontally, even when he would have the chance he prefers to slow the game down and start again. This Italy needs much more imagination,” they wrote.

Calciomercato handed the Italian star a 5.5/6, claiming he disappeared in the middle of the park.

They wrote: “We have few players of this level. Fortunately. He disappears in the middle of the pitch: too many touches, too many horizontal passes, never a verticalisation. We can easily do without players of ‘this level’.”

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Jorginho’s stats vs Croatia

Despite heavy criticism from the media, the numbers behind Jorginho’s display make for more positive viewing.

The £12 million man picked up a match rating of 7/10 from Sofascore and he made the joint-most passes on the night.

Much of the criticism from the media in Italy seems to be based on Jorginho’s safe approach on the ball. But the 32-year-old has never been the type of player who takes risks on the ball and often dictates the tempo of games from the base of midfield.