Blue Armour 4,439 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Looks ordinary in midfield. Nullifying any of his offensive qualities playing there. And his positioning is not great either. If we can't count on James to play in RB/RCB/RWB, might as well not play him at all. Vesper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHulk 2,450 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Keep him fit and sell him in the summer. kexik and Vesper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milka 3,394 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Sell the last ones experience piece with Chelsea dna and go and get another mid player why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kante 1,643 Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 (edited) 7 hours ago, Blue Armour said: Looks ordinary in midfield. Nullifying any of his offensive qualities playing there. And his positioning is not great either. If we can't count on James to play in RB/RCB/RWB, might as well not play him at all. He was the only player that played balls that was dangerous yesterday. He is still getting fit but at least he is capable of playing in the wingers/fb's over the top. The others just play backwards/sidewards tippy tappy balls with zero zip. Edited March 17 by King Kante Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Armour 4,439 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 17 hours ago, King Kante said: He was the only player that played balls that was dangerous yesterday. He is still getting fit but at least he is capable of playing in the wingers/fb's over the top. The others just play backwards/sidewards tippy tappy balls with zero zip. I don't deny James can be useful. Just not in midfield. At least, he wasn't convincing against Arsenal. Hopefully Lavia returning will allow James to back to RB. And with Jackson returning after the break, the team can go back to playing how it used to last year. Fulham Broadway 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fulham Broadway 17,313 Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 4 hours ago, Blue Armour said: I don't deny James can be useful. Just not in midfield. At least, he wasn't convincing against Arsenal. Hopefully Lavia returning will allow James to back to RB. And with Jackson returning after the break, the team can go back to playing how it used to last year. Gusto brought a bit of a spark - but very difficult to see where the goals are coming from Blue Armour 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Armour 4,439 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Big shout out to Reece James for finishing the season strongly. He's had his injury troubles over the 3 years, but have to say that both Maresca and him have carefully managed his comeback, and hopefully this has given him a stable foundation for next season. I know he has got a lot of flak for his captaining (or lack of), and he isn't as vocal like a JT or even an Enzo. But he leads in the best way possible, through example. By being on the pitch and displaying what it means to be a top player. You can see it in the reactions of the other lads too. Palmer in his goal celebrations with James. Caicedo also voting only James from the current generation into his all time Chelsea 11. Stats, BXL70, Strike and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoSalah 8,886 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Would be better if he was playing out wide as opposed to tucked infield all the time. Just limits his (& Gusto’s) game a bit I feel. Gusto has struggled immensely with Enzo’s tactic's - not surprised one bit. Big season next year, Reece has to stay fit and justify his big wages. Starting every 2/3rd game when fit isn’t really enough for a player of that calibre unfortunately but good to see he’s got some more regular minutes since coming back. Just hope he can sustain his fitness, thats the main issue. 16 minutes ago, Blue Armour said: Big shout out to Reece James for finishing the season strongly. He's had his injury troubles over the 3 years, but have to say that both Maresca and him have carefully managed his comeback, and hopefully this has given him a stable foundation for next season. I know he has got a lot of flak for his captaining (or lack of), and he isn't as vocal like a JT or even an Enzo. But he leads in the best way possible, through example. By being on the pitch and displaying what it means to be a top player. You can see it in the reactions of the other lads too. Palmer in his goal celebrations with James. Caicedo also voting only James from the current generation into his all time Chelsea 11. He needs to improve on this, but he also has been thrust into that role far too early IMO. Sometimes watching him when he first broke through, he looked like he was going through the motions and didn’t push himself. He seems to have that bit between the teeth now but he also has to become a lot more vocal and demand that from others at times. It is clear people respect him in the squad but with that he has to own it and demand more. He still strikes me as too nice. Will be honest Enzo Fernandez as captain is a joke for me, isn’t worthy of the armband at all. Looks like he half arses most games. And when games are tough he is the first to vanish, first half tonight was even more proof of this. If Madrid offer anywhere near the money we paid, take it and run. Good quality on the ball but he is never going to not be a liability without the ball. Blue Armour 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesman2610 1,417 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 50 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said: Would be better if he was playing out wide as opposed to tucked infield all the time. Just limits his (& Gusto’s) game a bit I feel. Gusto has struggled immensely with Enzo’s tactic's - not surprised one bit. Big season next year, Reece has to stay fit and justify his big wages. Starting every 2/3rd game when fit isn’t really enough for a player of that calibre unfortunately but good to see he’s got some more regular minutes since coming back. Just hope he can sustain his fitness, thats the main issue. He needs to improve on this, but he also has been thrust into that role far too early IMO. Sometimes watching him when he first broke through, he looked like he was going through the motions and didn’t push himself. He seems to have that bit between the teeth now but he also has to become a lot more vocal and demand that from others at times. It is clear people respect him in the squad but with that he has to own it and demand more. He still strikes me as too nice. Will be honest Enzo Fernandez as captain is a joke for me, isn’t worthy of the armband at all. Looks like he half arses most games. And when games are tough he is the first to vanish, first half tonight was even more proof of this. If Madrid offer anywhere near the money we paid, take it and run. Good quality on the ball but he is never going to not be a liability without the ball. Reece playing tucked into midfield helps preserve him from all the wing back sprints but also allows him to play passes like he did tonight into dangerous areas. I think for Reece Maresca's tactic is perfect it definitely doesn't work for Gusto at all he doesn't have the tactical ability for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDA 9,938 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 On 17/03/2025 at 05:23, TheHulk said: Keep him fit and sell him in the summer. Don’t think that would be a good idea. He has shown some serious leadership qualities in times of recent. Think we need to keep him around. BXL70, Blue Armour and Stats 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Juan 28,141 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 I could have come on and made a difference for Gusto, but that doesn't take anything away from Reece, he should have been on from the start. We won last night but Maresca needs to be wiser and a lot more savvy next season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando 6,585 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 4 hours ago, Special Juan said: I could have come on and made a difference for Gusto, but that doesn't take anything away from Reece, he should have been on from the start. We won last night but Maresca needs to be wiser and a lot more savvy next season Actually sad about Gusto because last season I thought he was a baller. He has gone down big time, I rather sell him this summer if an offer came in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneMoSalah 8,886 Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 15 hours ago, Fernando said: Actually sad about Gusto because last season I thought he was a baller. He has gone down big time, I rather sell him this summer if an offer came in. He looked very very capable playing as an out and out fullback under Poch though, like he was easily one of the much much better performers we had all season round. Don’t think anyone here would disagree. I don’t think that player isn’t still there, I really just think it’s a tactical thing with this manager which he either the player adapts to or the manager is more flexible when he plays (Cole Palmer also made comments about backwards/sideways which I think can definitely be interpreted about the tactics and philosophy more than an off day). Also whilst he was poor in the final, I think Betis had highlighted that right side and targeted it as whenever Gusto appeared inside when we had the ball, Ez Abde was cheating essentially, not following in & waiting for a turnover to exploit that space. And that pass into him or following pass by him was intercepted a lot in the first half. A lot of opportunities for moments like that came from Gusto, Caicedo & Chalobah giving the ball away when building out. Fernando 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Armour 4,439 Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 Fulham Broadway and Vesper 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahmedou 192 Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 https://www.talkchelsea.net/news/does-reece-james-have-a-long-term-future-at-Chelsea/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahmedou 192 Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 MY CAPTAIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernando 6,585 Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 James is very humble and smart how he speaks. This is before the PSG match. Vesper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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