Reece James and the Qualities he Brings to This Chelsea Team

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Reece James, a player who has gone on from being an academy boy to being one of the favorite players in the Chelsea team. We all know his journey at Wigan where he was named the player of the season during his loan spell at Wigan 2 seasons ago. He arrived Chelsea and quickly grew into one of the contenders for the first team spot in the Chelsea team. During his time on loan at the championship was one of the best players in the championship due to his performances and consistency. His playing style has earned him a lot of praises and what he offers defensively and most especially what he offers offensively, in the final third of the pitch which is what Chelsea has lacked for the past few seasons running. His crosses are delicious and a delight for strikers. We have already seen that he is probably the best crosser of the ball in this Chelsea team… With the ability of Reece James at right-back for Chelsea, there will most likely be an improvement and will definitely be very valuable for Chelsea.

Talking about what Reece James offers defensively and offensively, this is what Chelsea has lacked for most parts this season, as Azpillicueta who still remains the Chelsea captain and even though he is a fantastic defender, he isnt really a great crosser of the ball or possess the attacking qualities of Reece James. Chelsea under Frank Lampard has begun their season quite slowly and are slowly moving on the rise with several cleansheets in a row now. However, the right-back position seems to be one of the most talked-about position by the Chelsea fans as there is a lot of mixed opinions about who starts in the right back position for Chelsea… Both Reece James and Azpillicueta offers something different on the pitch and either of the two can do a fantastic job… Reece James has already shown that he possesses a good number of qualities that can really improve this Chelsea team once he gets into the first team.

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Defensive Qualities

I decided to start with his defensive qualities cos as a right-back, the number 1 aim is to be good defensively, and yes we all know that there are right-backs who offer a lot offensively that their defensive contributions suffer which I think shouldn’t be the case as a right-back should always have a good defensive knowledge and should be able to handle his defensive duties. The good news for Chelsea is that Reece James is one of those players who have a pretty good all-round game as he is quite a difficult player to player against when he is in his defensive duties... His strength and intelligence give him the ability to handle his defensive duties well. He might not be the best when it comes to defending, but his all-round defensive contributions has been very good. This is great for Chelsea as the team will most likely retain its balance defensively.

Attacking Qualities

This is an area where Reece James shines as a right back. Like we saw last season, his abilities on the ball is so good that he is sometimes played in midfield and seen as the playmaker from his right-back position, giving the manager a lot of tactical flexibility during matches. One of his key attacking qualities is his crossing ability and ability to beat his man, an area where Chelsea has lacked over the past few seasons. With his deadly crossing ability, Chelsea will create a lot more chances than they have done so far this season, especially from the wide areas. Reece James was the best player at Wigan and one of the best in the championship simply because of his contributions on the pitch most especially in the attacking phase. His strength, dribbling, vision, passing, crossing, intelligence, ticks all the boxes why he will be a huge improvement to this Chelsea team who have performed really well so far this season.