It’s almost exactly a year since Enzo Maresca rather surprisingly called out his captain Reece James and said that he had expected more from him as a captain.
To remind you of the manager’s words, Maresca had said:
“I spoke with [James] and I expected from him more in terms of leadership, inside the changing room and for different kinds of things… He’s on the way, he’s doing well, he’s progressing but from Reece I expected more also in terms of leadership”
Maresca hails James’ improvement as a leader in 12 months
Enzo Maresca speaks to Reece James at Anfield.
Enzo Maresca speaks to Reece James at Anfield.
It was a pretty surprisingly direct calling out of your captain. In the press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game against Ajax, Maresca was asked for an update on the situation. Had James improved in the 12 months since?
“Absolutely, yes. It’s much better compared to one year ago, but I hope that also me, I’m better than one year ago. I think after one month, two months, we try all to be better, but I think Reece has improved a lot, we have more players that are doing well in that sense, so we are very happy with Reece.”
That’s what we like to hear. James has never really been a natural leader as he’s a shy guy, but he can lead by example, and now he’s been able to stay consistently fit he’s surely able to be an even more important figure in the dressing room.
In other news…
It’s not all good news from the presser however – Maresca put some doubt on whether Enzo Fernandez would be fit to play tomorrow night after the Argentine missed the weekend’s win over Nottingham Forest, saying he needs to be “protected.”
The coach also discussed Jorrel Hato’s progress in adapting to the Premier League.
More Stories about Reece James
Josh Acheampong celebrates scoring for Chelsea.
Reece James applauds the fans at full time after a win.
Reece James gets a note in game