24. Reece James

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

15 hours ago, Vytis33 said:

 

Not really excellent news because Maresca is going to ask him to play as an inverted fullback - which he already did and struggled with massively in pre season.

Talk about wasting a player of Reece’s quality.

[Special Juan 27,429]

He won't stay fit enough to be wasted, he will be in for 2 weeks and out for another ten, guarantee it

 

[Vesper 28,826]

9 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Not really excellent news because Maresca is going to ask him to play as an inverted fullback - which he already did and struggled with massively in pre season.

Talk about wasting a player of Reece’s quality.

Reece is a fullback.

What are you on about?

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

13 hours ago, Vesper said:

Reece is a fullback.

What are you on about?

What am I on about? What are you on about? Did you not watch pre season? Reece played at RB and was inverting constantly when we had the ball. Really looked out of place.

Edited October 16 by OneMoSalah

[Vesper 28,826]

2 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

What am I on about? What are you on about? Did you not watch pre season? Reece played at RB and was inverting constantly when we had the ball. Really looked out of place.

that is tactics, not position

if Reece cannot do something as basic as tactical adaptation, then, when you combine that with his horrific injury record, he really does need to go

[King Kante 1,476]

Guy needs to go to rcb or dm. Let's not try not to pretend again that he is built like Gusto or Cucu and can bomb around for 90 mins and then be surprised when his muscles go pop. 

[Blue Armour 4,288]

How it's been like with the last few Reece James comebacks

Return. Provide a great performance with a great assist. Get suspended. Get injured. Repeat.

Hope he bucks the trend with the last 3 things.

Edited October 17 by Blue Armour

[Vesper 28,826]

Enzo Maresca addresses potential Reece James change in position at Chelsea

The 24-year-old is in contention to make his first appearance of the season this weekend

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/Chelsea-fc-reece-james-latest-news-liverpool-maresca-b1188769.html

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca wants Reece James to prove his fitness before deciding on the best way to deploy the right-back in his system.

The club captain is yet to play a single minute of competitive action this season after suffering a relapse on a troublesome hamstring injury which he underwent surgery for last December that ultimately ruled him out for the majority of the 2023/34 campaign.

In James' absence, a lot has changed in west London. Most notably the head coach and with that a new style of play has been introduced with the Italian tactician preferring to utilise a full-back moving inside to overload the centre and dominate possession.

This has been evident with Malo Gusto, in particular, inverting from his right-back position into the central midfield spaces which in turn sees the back line adjust to form a trio when Chelsea are in possession.

Now that James is back and available for selection, once fully fit he will be out to reclaim his spot in what promises to be an intriguing battle with the aforementioned Frenchman who has deputised extremely well in the England international's long absence.

Having said that, James will have to adapt to a new role as under previous managers such as Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, he's been predominately used as an attack-minded full-back often instructed to offer with down the right-hand side as opposed to drifting into midfield.

Available: Reece James could make his first appearance of the season as Chelsea face Liverpool

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

The question as to if the 24-year-old will be able to fit in the same role was posed to Maresca during a news conference ahead of Chelsea's game against Liverpool and the Italian simply wanted to focus on ensuring the defender returns to full fitness before discussing tactical plans.

"First of all, he has to be fit and then slowly we will see,” Maresca said. “The most important thing for Reece is he is finally fit and then we will see how we will use him. We have many players that are versatile and can play in different positions."

Ultimately, James has all the tools to perform as an inverted right-back to a high standard. After all, despite only operating at right-back throughout his career at Stamford Bridge, he has experience as a central midfielder from his loan spell with Wigan Athletic.

[King Kante 1,476]

On 18/10/2024 at 22:33, Vesper said:

Enzo Maresca addresses potential Reece James change in position at Chelsea

The 24-year-old is in contention to make his first appearance of the season this weekend

 

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/Chelsea-fc-reece-james-latest-news-liverpool-maresca-b1188769.html

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca wants Reece James to prove his fitness before deciding on the best way to deploy the right-back in his system.

The club captain is yet to play a single minute of competitive action this season after suffering a relapse on a troublesome hamstring injury which he underwent surgery for last December that ultimately ruled him out for the majority of the 2023/34 campaign.

In James' absence, a lot has changed in west London. Most notably the head coach and with that a new style of play has been introduced with the Italian tactician preferring to utilise a full-back moving inside to overload the centre and dominate possession.

This has been evident with Malo Gusto, in particular, inverting from his right-back position into the central midfield spaces which in turn sees the back line adjust to form a trio when Chelsea are in possession.

Now that James is back and available for selection, once fully fit he will be out to reclaim his spot in what promises to be an intriguing battle with the aforementioned Frenchman who has deputised extremely well in the England international's long absence.

Having said that, James will have to adapt to a new role as under previous managers such as Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, he's been predominately used as an attack-minded full-back often instructed to offer with down the right-hand side as opposed to drifting into midfield.

Available: Reece James could make his first appearance of the season as Chelsea face Liverpool

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

The question as to if the 24-year-old will be able to fit in the same role was posed to Maresca during a news conference ahead of Chelsea's game against Liverpool and the Italian simply wanted to focus on ensuring the defender returns to full fitness before discussing tactical plans.

"First of all, he has to be fit and then slowly we will see,” Maresca said. “The most important thing for Reece is he is finally fit and then we will see how we will use him. We have many players that are versatile and can play in different positions."

Ultimately, James has all the tools to perform as an inverted right-back to a high standard. After all, despite only operating at right-back throughout his career at Stamford Bridge, he has experience as a central midfielder from his loan spell with Wigan Athletic.

Just make him a RCB. He is a better defender than most, if not all of our CB's. Additionally, with all his injuries to his hamstring, it isn't likely he will be able to bomb up and down with much pace anymore anyway.

I know some people will complain about his height but 5'10" is fine so long as you've the aggressiveness (which he does), defensive skills (largely there) and decent ball playing ability (which he has.) That way we van also get Gusto in the team. 

[Vytis33 1,142]

 

[Vesper 28,826]

Chelsea captain Reece James urged to show more leadership by Enzo Maresca

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5872199/2024/10/25/reece-james-Chelsea-captain-enzo-maresca/

Enzo Maresca has urged Reece James to show more leadership as Chelsea’s captain and added that he believes his squad lacks a “proper leader”.

James was appointed club captain by Mauricio Pochettino ahead of the 2023-24 season following the departure of Cesar Azpilicueta to Atletico Madrid, but a combination of persistent injuries and untimely suspensions have severely restricted his opportunities to wear the armband on the pitch ever since.

Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat against Liverpool on Sunday marked James’ first competitive appearance of the season, and Maresca said the 24-year-old has responded well to being told that more is expected of him on and off the pitch as captain.

“I spoke with him and I expected more from him in terms of leadership, inside the changing room and for different kinds of things,” Maresca said of James after Chelsea’s 4-1 win over Panathinaikos in the Europa Conference League. “So he’s on the way, he’s doing well, he’s progressing but from Reece I expected more also in terms of leadership.

“Most of the time when they are captain, they think that because they are captain they have more: ‘because I am the captain, I expect that you give me more.’ For me, because you are the captain you have to give more. You have to give more than the rest. And sometimes: ‘okay, I am the captain I can give less’, no.

“He’s one of the captains and I expected from him, and his team-mates expected from him, to give always more in terms of leadership in general.”

Asked how James responded to Maresca’s message, Chelsea’s head coach replied: “Good, that’s why I said he’s on the way. He understands that we expected more from him. He’s one of our guys from the academy but this is one of the reasons why he has to show more in terms of personality.”

According to Transfermarkt, Chelsea’s average age of players used in the Premier League this season is 23.4, making them the youngest team in the division. Maresca admitted that youth is a significant factor in the shortage of leaders in his squad, but added that there are several players in his group who have the personality to grow into more influential roles.

“When you don’t have a proper leader, you need to build that,” he said. “I think we don’t have a proper leader. We don’t have guys, you can see them… probably Tosin is one of the guys that is. So the rest we need to build them.

“So Reece is there, he’s on the way but he’s not there. So he needs to make an effort in that one. The one that is doing fantastic in this kind of thing is Levi (Colwill). Levi probably at the beginning of the season was not a leader but now you can see that he is one of the guys that is always speaking.

“We need to build that. We need as much as we have, then it’s perfect. Marc Cucurella is one of the guys, so we need more and more.

“This is something that also goes with age. Probably in one or two years, three years some of them will be better in that. But, as I said, if they are not there we need to help them to understand, not only the football side, but also the leadership side that they need to grow.”

GO DEEPER

Reece James is back in Chelsea training. Now he has to prove he can stay fit and find form

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Is this fair on James?

It should not come as a surprise that James is not a fully formed Chelsea captain. He is only 24 years old and has a naturally reserved personality. This is one notable difference between him and John Terry, who was given the armband by Jose Mourinho at the age of 23.

Another thing to note is that James’ two primary dressing room role models at the beginning of his senior Chelsea career — Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva — were also less vocal in the dressing room by nature. Azpilicueta took time to grow into the job of club captain when he was given the permanent responsibility in 2019, and ultimately succeeded admirably in doing so.

It is harder to show leadership when you are not playing and, as has often been the case with James, not even training with the main group. Injuries cannot be helped, but the two suspensions for straight red cards last season that set back James’ attempts to return to action certainly can be.

Chelsea have an indiscipline problem within this group of players that stretches back to Pochettino’s tenure, and setting a better example in this regard should be an easy fix for James.

The rest, as Maresca says, should come with time and the right support.

---

Does this show Maresca’s authority?

It certainly shows his honesty. There have been numerous examples of Maresca raising eyebrows with his straight talking this season — not least his admission after the Panathinaikos victory that Mykhailo Mudryk has been slower than most at Chelsea to learn what his head coach wants from him on the pitch.

Time will tell whether Chelsea’s players appreciate their head coach discussing their areas for improvement publicly, but projecting authority in the media is one way for Maresca to maintain authority over a squad which, as he points out, is not stacked with strong personalities.

Another way is to keep Chelsea’s performances and results on a positive trajectory, and Maresca has done a solid job of that so far.

[Vesper 28,826]

Reece James: Chelsea’s captain, leader, left-back

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5875962/2024/10/28/reece-james-captain-Chelsea-newcastle/

By Liam Twomey
 

Deep in the 98th minute at Stamford Bridge, Reece James momentarily lay face down in his own six-yard box with his left leg covered in the white paint of his own penalty area, having only just cleared the Chelsea crossbar with a frantic, improvised, diving defensive header.

The danger had passed, but it was anything but past. Newcastle loaded the Chelsea box for their final corner kick of a hotly contested game with every available giant and Levi Colwill’s friendly arms grabbed James, helping him to his feet before wrapping him in a motivational embrace accompanied by a few words of bellowed encouragement.

It was a sequence that enhanced both Cobham graduates’ captaincy credentials; credentials which, in the case of James, have been debated at considerable length in public since Maresca admitted after Chelsea’s midweek cruise against Panathinaikos that he “had expected more” from the 24-year-old in terms of leadership on and off the field.

Maresca attempted to soften the impact of his comments ahead of the visit of Newcastle.

“He’s doing well, he’s doing fantastic,” Chelsea’s head coach said of James in a pre-match interview with Sky Sports. “The only thing for us is that he has been injured. He’s so important for us. In terms of leadership, I ask (for) more from him. But I ask (for) more from a lot of them.

GO DEEPER

The Briefing: Chelsea 2 Newcastle 1 - Palmer's pass, the visitors' Cobham influence and left-back James

“Because when the team is so young, you need more from them. It’s not just about Reece. In general, they have to give one step forward in terms of leadership.”

Persistent injuries and untimely suspensions have severely limited James’ opportunities to grow into an on-pitch leadership role for Chelsea over the past 14 months. The fact he came through 107 intense minutes here (factoring in extensive additional time at the end of each half) without any obvious physical discomfort represents a significant positive step.

The last time he managed a full competitive game? April 18, 2023, the second leg of Chelsea’s comprehensive defeat against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, shortly after Frank Lampard had taken charge of the team on an interim basis. Three coaches, 18 months and a lifetime ago in football terms.

Then there was Maresca’s latest tactical gambit: deploying James on the left of defence rather than the right, where Malo Gusto began but frequently inverted high into midfield. The role required him to be more conservative with his positioning when Chelsea attacked, changed the angles of his passes and even necessitated him popping up to make vital blocks in his own penalty area and several goal-line clearances.

For another footballer already trying to navigate challenging individual circumstances, it might have proven a discomfort too far. But James’ introspective nature masks a steely resolve. He performed with poise as well as physicality, limiting the industrious Miguel Almiron to one real chance in his 68 minutes on the pitch and enhancing Chelsea’s control in possession.

 

James during Chelsea’s win over Newcastle (Serena Taylor/Getty Images)

“I think it worked top,” Maresca said of James’ positioning. “We tried to do something where we moved Reece to the left side and Cole (Palmer) for the first time this season into the left pocket. The reason was to try to attack on that side and also to have Malo in the right pocket. I think in the end it worked really well.”

Part of showing personality on the pitch is being able to carry influence to different positions. It is a quality Maresca values highly in his system and one that Palmer exhibited every bit as much as James in the attacking third, scoring the winning goal with a shot from Maresca’s “left pocket” after dropping deeper to create Chelsea’s opener with perhaps the pass of the season.

GO DEEPER

Was Cole Palmer meant to be this good? We asked those who watched him grow

Palmer will probably never be described as a vocal leader, but his demand of the ball and clear-eyed assurance, when he possesses it, oozes the personality Maresca is looking for. Others in this young team are also growing in stature: Colwill standing tall in defence next to Wesley Fofana fighting through significant knee pain, Moises Caicedo snapping into tackles, Nicolas Jackson relentlessly receiving passes under pressure and linking attacks.

“With Reece, with Cole, with all the squad… I said the other day because we are quite young, we need to build leaders,” Maresca added. “Levi was quite silent and now he’s always talking. Sometimes when you don’t have them, you need to build leaders. That doesn’t mean you are going to change people, but if they can improve on that, it’s good.”

With personality comes greater consistency. The only Premier League teams who have beaten Chelsea since February are Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool, with the other 20 games yielding 14 wins and six draws. The mounting evidence that stretches back to the final months of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure suggests this is the fourth-best team in England — which, given that priority number one is Champions League qualification, is an encouraging sign.

Newcastle were always going to be a stiffer test of Chelsea’s burgeoning ability to take care of business against the rest in the Premier League and the home side’s heightened emotional state during the second half underlined their awareness of the importance of winning. Maresca was booked after sprinting furiously back to his seat on the home bench one too many times in protest at a decision from referee Simon Hooper and at the final whistle, Fofana and James were among several players in blue who collapsed to the ground in their own penalty area.

For the second time in the space of a few minutes, James was quickly picked back up and engulfed by team-mates. He may not yet be the most polished captain, but he is a popular one at Stamford Bridge and his stoic revival is starting to mirror Chelsea’s under Maresca.

[OneMoSalah 8,778]

Injured again. Hamstring. Absolute liability. 

Edited Thursday at 14:51 by OneMoSalah

[MoroccanBlue 5,302]

Really hope one of Acheampong or Gilchrist become the real deal. 

Looks like Malo Gusto is our current and future #1. 

[Strike 7,217]

1 hour ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Really hope one of Acheampong or Gilchrist become the real deal. 

Looks like Malo Gusto is our current and future #1. 

Alfie may become the real deal in the Championship

We will need to bring in a RB if Acheampong doesn't extend. At least a Veiga type hybrid

[nyikolajevics 2,577]

Maresca said RJ felt something smell, hence we did not want to risk for the weekend. However, James posted a message on Instagram where he wishes happy holiday season for everyone.. So possibly we won't see him again this year. 2024 is once again a year to forget for him, third in a row.

[Blue Armour 4,288]

Can only sympathize with him. To have that much talent and not get to use it because of something he has little control over.

I don't get why people want to sneer at him for it.

Just wish him well him and move on. Maybe the club will move on past James given how frequent the injuries have become, but until then he is still a Chelsea player. 

Hopefully he is back soon to provide Gusto backup. It's not like Malo is immune to injury either. And you don't want to know who will play RB if the latter also becomes unavailable.

[robsblubot 3,504]

I think the question is, does he do everything in his power to prevent these recurring injuries? Would losing some weight potentially help?

He looks heavy to me, perhaps not fat heavy, but surely very bulky.