Chelsea captain Reece James is easily one of the best right-backs in the Premier League.
However, the 25-year-old has also proven that he is quite a good midfielder of late. James has started in midfield in recent games versus Arsenal and Copenhagen, even managing to score against the latter.
Enzo Maresca has already made it clear that, in his mind, James is a midfielder.
Thomas Tuchel may disagree with the current Chelsea manager, but it is a position that the Englishman certainly knows very well.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Reece James played in midfield during Chelsea academy days
James is enjoying playing in midfield, but this is not the first time that the defender has been given the opportunity to start further forward.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, James revealed that he first started playing in the middle of the park when he was part of Chelsea’s U11 side.
When asked how he is finding his new midfield role, the England international said: “Yeah, It’s OK. It’s somewhere I played a lot growing up as a kid, a little bit when I was on loan, so it’s not really new to me.
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“It’s just reminding my memory how to play there again, but no, I’m enjoying playing again with the team and helping them as much as I can.”
James was then asked what age group was he in when he first started playing in midfield. In response, the Chelsea skipper said: “Maybe from under 11s, maybe to like, I don’t know, 15s, 16s a bit. I played various positions growing up in the academy.”
Tuchel started James at right-back in England’s 3-0 win against Latvia last Monday, with the Chelsea academy graduate going on to score a terrific free-kick.
For the German, that is James’ best position. The Three Lions boss has one huge concern about James playing in the middle.
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Photo by Robin Jones/Getty Images
Thomas Tuchel worried about Reece James during transitions
While Tuchel is confident that James can indeed play in midfield, he is worried about how the 2021 Champions League winner would cope with transitions in open games.
“If you play a dominant match he can be like a hybrid midfielder, where he comes from left or right-back and helps in midfield to create an overload,” the 51-year-old was quoted as saying by West London Sport.
“He has the quality on the ball to accelerate with his passes, play chipped balls and switch sides — he’s very confident. But once it’s an open game and there are a lot of transitions through midfield, I’m not so sure it would suit him perfectly.”
As a Chelsea fan, you probably do want to see him bombing up and down the right flank. The Three Lions star offers so much going forward from the full-back position.
Maresca, though, seems to have other ideas, with the Italian viewing James as both a defender and midfielder.