Reece James played a crucial role in Chelsea’s 2-1 away win over Copenhagen on Thursday in Europe.
The Blues picked up advantage in the first leg of their last-16 tie against Copenhagen in the Conference League. A 2-1 away victory definitely makes them favourite ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea broke the deadlock at the start of the second-half when Reece James fired in a low shot from outside the box. Afterwards, Enzo Fernandez doubled the advantage for the visitors with a clinical finish. Unfortunately, Gabriel Pereira reduced the deficit with his 79th minute goal for Copenhagen, which keeps the tie in the balance.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca used a blend of youth and experience to get the away win in Copenhagen, but it was the big hitters that came good for him in the end.
James starred in the Chelsea player ratings versus Copenhagen as he put in another eye-catching display.
Photo credit should read Michael Barrett Boesen / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Photo credit should read Michael Barrett Boesen / GocherImagery/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Enzo Maresca claims the best thing about Chelsea’s Reece James is his leadership
Back in October, Maresca admitted he expected more leadership from James as he publicly called out the Chelsea club captain.
Thankfully, the 25-year-old’s managed to keep himself fit in recent weeks and is contributing a lot more on the pitch. It’s interesting to see him playing in central midfield rather than at right-back as well.
Following Chelsea’s win over Copenhagen, Maresca actually claimed “the best thing” about James right now is his leadership.
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“The best thing about Reece at the moment is he is helping the team with leadership and he is growing a lot since I mentioned we needed him and this is important,” Maresca said via Football.London.
It’s a huge compliment to James to hear he’s growing in stature as a leader in the young group.
James organised a team bonding meal at Chelsea last month in an attempt to get the players closer together and help them fix their inconsistent form.
We know that the Englishman isn’t a vocal leader who shouts in the same mould of a John Terry or Gary Cahill, but the academy graduate appears to be developing into his own style of captaincy.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Joe Cole verdict after Reece James performance vs Copenhagen
Chelsea great Joe Cole insists people shouldn’t give up on James as a player after his eye-catching contribution in the Conference League.
When discussing Blues skipper James, Cole told TNT Sports: “He’ll have respect of all of the players because what he can do technically, psychically. When he was at his best, he was as good as anything in the world, no doubt about that. It’s just about, for him, finding his inner peace…
“He’s got so much to offer Chelsea, so much to offer England, and it’s great to see him impacting the game like he is tonight.
“People should not give up on Reece James because there’s still a real, real world-class player in there, who is going to be a massive player if, whatever he’s doing now, he keeps doing it.”
The question mark around James in recent years has been around the frequent injury problems, so it’ll be interesting to see if playing in midfield rather than at right-back helps his body.
On ability, he’s one of the very best players at the club. He now just needs to kick on and stay available.