24. Reece James

[Tomo 21,681]

Early sample size but based on his two penalties in the respective EFL cup shootouts I wonder if he may end up climbing the pecking order for the spot kicks in regulation play? Possibly even taking over from Jorgi when the time comes. 

[NikkiCFC 7,595]

42 minutes ago, Tomo said:

Early sample size but based on his two penalties in the respective EFL cup shootouts I wonder if he may end up climbing the pecking order for the spot kicks in regulation play? Possibly even taking over from Jorgi when the time comes. 

James, Chilwell, Alonso even going before with Cole... I don't remember any full backs missing pens. They are usually very reliable. 

[Vesper 27,351]

 

[Magic Lamps 11,452]

Delighted for the lad. Was one of the first to jump aboard the Reece James hypetrain during his time at Wigan and never looked back...

Such well rounded player. Good pysical attributes, Astute on the ball, humble attitude, not afraid to take responsibility. Does not surprise me one bit he now gets the plaudits he deserves. Both goals amazingly well taken.

Wingbacks are crucial for our offensive system and he fuliflls that role maybe even better than Hakimi (who is doing fine himself) does atm for PSG.

[NikkiCFC 7,595]

He improved his offensive play. This season already scored more goals than in previous 2 seasons.

[Stats 6,982]

He is the most complete RB/RWB. Brilliant defender, brilliant technical ability, brilliant physical attributes, brilliant crosser and now a brilliant eye for goal too. His general offensive play as improved too. I think TAA is a top player but it is crazy the hype he gets as soon he delivers a top assist or so and the calls for him to be in England team by media. Do you here anyway near the same hype for James? No.  James is 21 and arguably best RB/RWB out there right now for sure, well England's best RB/RWB for sure.

[Vesper 27,351]

29 minutes ago, Stats said:

He is the most complete RB/RWB. Brilliant defender, brilliant technical ability, brilliant physical attributes, brilliant crosser and now a brilliant eye for goal too. His general offensive play as improved too. I think TAA is a top player but it is crazy the hype he gets as soon he delivers a top assist or so and the calls for him to be in England team by media. Do you here anyway near the same hype for James? No.  James is 21 and arguably best RB/RWB out there right now for sure, well England's best RB/RWB for sure.

there are 6 WC RB/RWB out there, then the drop off is insane

and two of the 6 no longer even play at RB atm

RB is the weakest position on the globe overall

in order

Joshua Kimmich (mostly plays at DMF now, where is also the best in the world there)
Achraf Hakimi 
Trent Alexander-Arnold    
Reece James   
João Cancelo (now plays at LB)   
Kyle Walker

Walker turns 32yo in May, so has at most 2 top seasons left

 

the next group I see who could get to the top 6 level is so small, and we just lost one of them (Livramento)

the other 2 are

Ridle Baku (now playing RWer atm) and Matty Cash (my two targets)

 

AWB is massively overrated

Sergiño Dest is also overrated IMHO, at least atm, as is Pavard (although I would not complain if he was on our squad)

Azpi is still so good at defence, but he is hardly an offensive force and time will soon catch up

 

[DH1988 1,199]

Completely agree with Cash, fantastic player.

Reece needs to keep up the consistency in attack, his deliveries were great when he was out on loan, they dropped off, now back go being an offensive asset. Obviously, goals are goals, which is great, I'm more pleased to see Reece doing what Tuchel is asking, same for Chilwell.

[King Kante 1,302]

James is quite a complete player, two good feet and reads the game very well for his age. I still not sure he will spend his entire career at RB/RWB however as he isn't that quick compared to some others' and I think his crossing is much better when he gets to set himself (which is hard at RWB as a lot of the time you have to play the ball first time.) Personally, I could certainly see him moving to RCB or DM/CM (think Essien) in the next couple of years. That goes double if Livra keeps on improving at his current rate and we activate the buy back. 

Either way, he'll be a Chelsea player for a long time. 

[Stats 6,982]

On 31/10/2021 at 12:12, Stats said:

He is the most complete RB/RWB. Brilliant defender, brilliant technical ability, brilliant physical attributes, brilliant crosser and now a brilliant eye for goal too. His general offensive play as improved too. I think TAA is a top player but it is crazy the hype he gets as soon he delivers a top assist or so and the calls for him to be in England team by media. Do you here anyway near the same hype for James? No.  James is 21 and arguably best RB/RWB out there right now for sure, well England's best RB/RWB for sure.

Another example. Alexander-Arnold makes two assists yesterday and already BBC are doing articles about him having to be England’s first choice RB.

Did we see the same for James when he scored and assisted against Arsenal or scored 2 against Newcastle?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59142104

[Pizy 17,860]

I think TAA gets more media love and hype because his passing is much more flashy and spectacular on the eye. He is definitely the more talented passer than Reece. But RJ is the much better all around fullback. Trent is like a 10/10 player going forward and a 4/10 player defensively. Reece is like an 8/10 at both. He can improve the consistency in his delivery going forward and he switches off every once in a while defensively.

But in a big game against a top team I’d take Reece for sure because he’s not a defensive liability who will be targeted by the opposition.

[MoroccanBlue 5,200]

Liverpool are the media darlings. It was the same with Gerrard and Lampard. 

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Stats said:

Another example. Alexander-Arnold makes two assists yesterday and already BBC are doing articles about him having to be England’s first choice RB.

Did we see the same for James when he scored and assisted against Arsenal or scored 2 against Newcastle?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59142104

Not a surprise given who wrote the article. 

1 hour ago, Pizy said:

I think TAA gets more media love and hype because his passing is much more flashy and spectacular on the eye. He is definitely the more talented passer than Reece. But RJ is the much better all around fullback. Trent is like a 10/10 player going forward and a 4/10 player defensively. Reece is like an 8/10 at both. He can improve the consistency in his delivery going forward and he switches off every once in a while defensively.

But in a big game against a top team I’d take Reece for sure because he’s not a defensive liability who will be targeted by the opposition.

 

52 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

Liverpool are the media darlings. It was the same with Gerrard and Lampard. 

Agree with both of you there but one other thing TAA has over James right now is that the former has been doing it right back for a good few seasons now. James has yet to do it consistently. Never mind the goalscoring form - is it just a purple patch or is it something more? - James' final passes can still be rather dodgy. 

[OneMoSalah 8,616]

1 hour ago, Jase said:

Not a surprise given who wrote the article. 

 

Agree with both of you there but one other thing TAA has over James right now is that the former has been doing it right back for a good few seasons now. James has yet to do it consistently. Never mind the goalscoring form - is it just a purple patch or is it something more? - James' final passes can still be rather dodgy. 

His end product (crossing in particular) isn’t just rather dodgy, its hugely erratic, where as Trent probably gets nearly double figure in assists every year. Thats why he gets the plaudits more because they look at the outputs of fullbacks offensively more. I like that Reece is much better defensively and rounded perhaps but the comparisons will always be in TAA’s favour because you know if he gets space and can get the ball in, he will create a chance/get an assist.

Reece adds this to his game more consistently well then who knows but until then, I wouldn’t exactly be disagreeing with Mark Lawrenson or anybody else of a similar thought train. A few goals v Norwich and Newcastle won’t change anyones mind immediately and even here, we were all expecting to get an upgrade at RWB for certain reasons (end product and ability to take players on) this summer, hence the move for Hakimi.

Even in some of the games this season Tuchel has favoured Azpi at RWB over Reece. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by OneMoSalah

[Stats 6,982]

5 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

His end product (crossing in particular) isn’t just rather dodgy, its hugely erratic, where as Trent probably gets nearly double figure in assists every year. Thats why he gets the plaudits more because they look at the outputs of fullbacks offensively more. I like that Reece is much better defensively and rounded perhaps but the comparisons will always be in TAA’s favour because you know if he gets space and can get the ball in, he will create a chance/get an assist.

Reece adds this to his game more consistently well then who knows but until then, I wouldn’t exactly be disagreeing with Mark Lawrenson or anybody else of a similar thought train. A few goals v Norwich and Newcastle won’t change anyones mind immediately and even here, we were all expecting to get an upgrade at RWB for certain reasons (end product and ability to take players on) this summer, hence the move for Hakimi.

Even in some of the games this season Tuchel has favoured Azpi at RWB over Reece. 

Maybe it is because who he plays for, which is why he gets more plaudits.

Also, we went for Hakimi, but that maybe has made James work hard more and has paid off so far and for me will only get better.

Us favouring Azpi sometimes is due to strength in depth we have, not because James has done anything wrong. TAA would probably be utilized same way at us however he literally has no competition there. Like City, rotating Cancelo etc, he is a top full back but they have huge strength in depth there. That doesnt mean he is weak in that position. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Stats

[Milan 17,835]

Not enough credit and love in this thread. Needs to change. Because Reece has been absolutely brilliant in every aspect of the game at the moment. What a monster.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Milan

[NikkiCFC 7,595]

He is actually better than Cafu 🥰

[The Skipper 20,593]

On 05/11/2019 at 22:55, The Skipper said:

Our very own Philip Lahm. 

Haha… I stand corrected. Our very own Reece James.