Nainggolan and Jorginho: Two of Serie's A Best Continue to be Excluded

The international break is fast approaching as next week the nations of Europe will play their final World Cup qualifying group games. Thus most national teams have released their list of call ups for their two fixtures. As usual there were some surprising decisions made by managers, including some questionable exclusions. I'd like to focus on two of those exclusions, Radja Nainggolan by Belgium and Jorginho by Italy, as they have been two of the best midfielders in the early stages of the Italian Serie A season. I think both should've been called up and I'll explain why below.

Radja Nainggolan

Since, his arrival at AS Roma from Cagliari in January 2014 Radja Nainggolan has been one of the best midfielders in Serie A and arguably one of the best in Europe. He plays an all-around game and is a true box-to-box midfielder. Nainggolan's work rate is second to none and he routinely wins the ball back for Roma with his clean, hard tackling. Nainggolan is also good at holding onto possession and passes the ball well. He has improved offensively with each passing year since donning the Giallorossi jersey. Nainggolan makes incisive runs into the box which put him in great goal scoring positions and has a hammer of a shot from distance. Last season then Roma coach Luciano Spalletti played him in a more advanced midfield role and Radja's goal tally exploded to 11. He does it all for the Giallorossi. Check out some of his all-around game below. 

Prior to his move to Roma, Naiggolan had made a handful of appearances for the Belgian National Team but starting in 2014 he began to consistently receive call ups and played in most of Belgium's Euro 2016 qualifiers under former coach Marc Wilmots. Nainggolan was an integral part of Belgium's quarterfinal run in Euro '16 when he appeared in all five of the team's matches, including three starts, and contributed two goals. Check out this one versus Wales below. 

It looked like Nainggolan had rightfully established himself on a team that is one of the most talented in Belgium's history. However, things have changed since Roberto Martinez took over for Wilmots just over a year ago. Nainggolan received some call ups and a few caps early on his Martinez's tenure. However, he only started one of Belgium's WC qualifiers back in March.

Nainggolan admitted to being late to a team meeting in June which certainly didn't win him favor with Martinez. He also doesn't live the cleanest lifestyle off the field, as he admittedly smokes and drinks, but it never seems to affect him when I watch him on a weekly basis with Roma. When he was excluded from the Belgian team early in September he expressed his bewilderment to the media saying things like "it makes no sense", that he's "not a rebel" and always commits "120 percent"to his managers. I'm sure that this did him no favors with Martinez when he was excluded again this time around when call ups were made this weekend. After this weekend's exclusion of Nainggolan, Martinez told the press that it was solely for tactical reasons and that there isn't a problem that exists with the player. 

I don't believe Martinez for a second when I look at the group of midfielders that Martinez has on his roster. Martinez called up six midfielders Nacer Chadli, Kevin De Bruyne, Steven Defour, Marouane Fellaini, Youri Tielemans, and Axel Witsel. Chadli hasn't made a Premier League appearance yet this season for West Brom. Defour plays for Burnley. Meanwhile, for all of his talents Axel Witsel is currently plying his trade in China. I find it hard to believe that those kinds of players are more deserving of a call than Nainggolan based solely on tactical reasons. I understand that Belgium have already clinched a spot in the World Cup mostly without his services. However, if Nainggolan continues last season's run of form deep into this one but continues to be excluded heading into next summer's World Cup it would be criminal. If this happens to be the case, Martinez would be smiting his nose to spite his face. 

Jorginho

Jorginho, unlike Nainggolan, is not nearly as established with his national team. Jorginho, who was born in Brazil but holds dual citizenship thanks to his grandparents, has lived in Italy since he was 15. Because of this he continues to affirm his desire to play for the Azzurri. So far he has made only two appearances for Italy, both of which came under former Azzurri boss Antonio Conte in the spring of 2016. Jorginho was one of the last cuts made by Conte prior to Euro 2016 and has yet to be called up by current Italy boss Gian Piero Ventura since he took over the team.

Based on the fact that Ventura has yet to call up the Napoli midfielder makes it unsurprising that he was excluded from Ventura's most recent squad list today. However, based on his current run of form for undefeated Napoli to open the season it is a bit disappointing in my opinion. Jorginho aveages 101.3 passes a game, according to whoscored.com, which is by far the most in Serie A, and he completes 91.1% of them. He also scored a goal in one of Napoli's Champions League qualifiers against Nice and another in Serie A against Lazio. 

Here's a great scouting video of Jorghino's game that was made at the end of last season.

When asked about Jorginho, Ventura stated, 

"I like the fact he wants to be part of the Italy squad and that is something to be appreciated. I am surprised that everyone is so amazed by this, because we don’t play with a methodical midfield. He is the best in that role, but in my Nazionale, currently such a role does not exist. I can’t call him up if he there’s no room for him to play.”

I understand where Ventura is coming from but Italy haven't been all that impressive under his leadership and were overrun by Spain just last month. Perhaps, a more methodical approach with a player like Jorginho in the midfield would've served them better in slowing down Spain's attack by holding more possession. Italy are in a transitional period and their current midfield isn't overflowing with talented players in their prime like Jorginho.

In my opinion, Ventura needs to call up the best players available to him especially when the team hasn't been great in qualifying. These two upcoming qualifiers seemed right in my opinion to give Jorginho a look. Given the fact Italy are almost assuredly going to be playing in the World Cup qualifying playoff next month and that Marco Verratti hasn't been all that impressive wearing the Italy shirt; I think a little tinkering could've been a wise move from Ventura. Only time will tell if Jorginho will get a look from Ventura down the road. However, if he continues to impress with Napoli then I think he needs to get called up whether he fits Ventura's style of play or not.

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