Reece James of Chelsea
Reece James of Chelsea
Reece James missed Chelsea’s pre-season tour of Australia and Asia following his participation at this year’s World Cup.
Nevertheless, we still learned what the future could hold for the defender under Xabi Alonso.
James is one of the most versatile footballers in Chelsea’s squad. We saw that last season.
The 26-year-old can play at right-back, right wing-back, right centre-back and in midfield. Right-back is his natural position, but there was one game against Arsenal where he started in midfield and absolutely dominated despite Chelsea going down to 10 men!
Xabi Alonso on Marco Palestra
Credit: Andri Munazir/NurPhoto/Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
James can also play as a more traditional full-back or as an inverted full-back. There may not be a more flexible defender in the Premier League.
So where exactly is James going to play under Alonso? Well, again, Chelsea’s pre-season tour may have given us a clue. Alonso began the tour using a 4-2-3-1 formation before switching to a back three.
New signing Marco Palestra played as a left wing-back in the 3-0 win against AC Milan and was excellent there. The game before that, the Italian started at right-back and also made a positive impact going forward.
Ultimately, it would now not be a surprise to see Alonso use a 3-4-2-1 system in the upcoming Premier League campaign, with Palestra starting in the right wing-back position. What would that mean for James? It could see the England international start on the right side of Alonso’s back three, while Levi Colwill and Maxence Lacroix occupy the other two centre-back spots.
Levi Colwill and Reece James of Chelsea
Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images
One-v-one, James is an excellent defender, so you could trust him to stop the Premier League’s top centre-forwards. He is no slouch either. The Chelsea captain has enough pace to survive in that right-hand channel.
James is a better wing-back than Palestra. The former Atalanta man is not as experienced and well-rounded as his teammate, who can defend and attack. But given his hamstring issues, there would be concerns about James playing a role that requires so much running and high-intensity sprints.
Playing James in central defence could help protect the Chelsea academy product but also make the team more solid in that area of the pitch.
Alonso is probably going to use James in more than one position during his tenure at Stamford Bridge. But right centre-back could end up becoming the Chelsea skipper’s home.