Xabi Alonso admits Chelsea struggle to maintain quality over course of full game
Xabi Alonso admits Chelsea struggle to maintain quality over course of full game
The Chelsea captain was expected to be one of five men returning from injury for Chelsea against Bournemouth on Saturday, but while Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer started and Marco Palestra appeared from the bench, James was not even named in the matchday squad.
Chelsea ran out 5-1 winners in the game and Alonso was asked for an update on James’s situation in his post-match press conference at Stamford Bridge.
“After that, he had the tests later in the afternoon [on Friday]. He had some little issues on the knee.
“We need to check how long it will be. We need to assess him week-by-week.”
Earlier on Saturday, Alonso had first revealed that James’s new injury had been caused in training on Friday.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he had said: “Unfortunately, Reece picked up a little injury yesterday, so we’ll see [in the coming days].”
Since taking charge as manager in July, Alonso has tended to use James as a central midfielder rather than as a right-back, right wing-back or right-sided centre-back.
James did not take part in the international break with England, believed to have been due to the hamstring issues he has carried in recent years which has led to Chelsea having to carefully manage his load.