On 18/07/2026 at 16:38, markpitts said:

Football fans are emotional. You let them tell it, and England had 11 world class players v Argentina.

On 18/07/2026 at 18:32, dkw said:

Go find me one person that said that. Just one.

Still waiting.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

There were several moments yesterday when Reece intentionally motivated subs to get up to game speed. I’m still not sure I like him in midfield, but he’s so damn versatile and important to the team. Can see his leadership growing this year under Alonso.

He's looking 100% fit for the first time in a long time. This could be a big year for him.

I actually really like him in midfield, the fact he can drop into the back line when needed is huge and his deliveries from the edge of the box are still some of the best i've seen

5 hours ago, All Barco no bite said:

I actually really like him in midfield, the fact he can drop into the back line when needed is huge and his deliveries from the edge of the box are still some of the best i've seen

I thought him and Lavia were terrible in midfield in all honesty, not so much on the ball, but off the ball, I thought there was no structure at all.

22 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I thought him and Lavia were terrible in midfield in all honesty, not so much on the ball, but off the ball, I thought there was no structure at all.

I would agree. It was also due to them being outnumbered by Fulham in midfield, but I think you drop Caicedo instead of one of them and its a lot more secure. He doesn't yet have the positional awareness to play that role perfectly. On the ball, however, he's still fantastic.

Alonso, asked whether James could become one of the world’s best midfielders, said: ‘“I would say so. He’s very comfortable, very confident playing in that position. He has the intelligence to play there. He has the intelligence to connect with teammates around him in the middle to know what’s the best thing before and after you get the ball. And he has this awareness. I remember seeing him play very well in the middle. So yes, we are using him. He will have a lot of minutes in there as a first midfielder.”

He believes James’s leadership traits are most effective in a more advanced position: “He has the capacity to help the teammates around him, so that is very important as well, because he has this presence, this respect from the teammates. When he tells them something, they listen and they follow him. His impact in terms of emotionally, in terms of captain, leadership in the middle, he’s closer to everything and he can play an important role there.”

Im not sure about Reece in this midfield role. Alonso has confirmed what we all thought, but against the stronger teams it might not be enough.

53 minutes ago, OTL said:

Im not sure about Reece in this midfield role. Alonso has confirmed what we all thought, but against the stronger teams it might not be enough.

He just let Odegaard walk past him he didn’t even try it was poor from him as captain.

1 hour ago, OTL said:

Im not sure about Reece in this midfield role. Alonso has confirmed what we all thought, but against the stronger teams it might not be enough.

This is it for me, it's OK when you're at home to the likes of Hull City.

But you literally can't go toe to toe against top teams when they are playing proper midfielders and we are playing defenders in midfield.

You can't afford to play against the likes of Arsenal with makeshift midfielders.

45 minutes ago, El regreso said:

He just let Odegaard walk past him he didn’t even try it was poor from him as captain.

Yup. Am not sure who I fault more, him or Lavia.

Lavia is an actual midfield player so should know to watch runners, but Reece is a defender so again that should be his instinct.

As I said in the match thread is Enzo had just allowed odegaard to do that...

3 hours ago, OTL said:

Im not sure about Reece in this midfield role. Alonso has confirmed what we all thought, but against the stronger teams it might not be enough.

Trouble is Reece is a RB who can't play RB.

If everyone's fit, does he even have a spot on the team?

5 minutes ago, yaz said:

Trouble is Reece is a RB who can't play RB.

If everyone's fit, does he even have a spot on the team?

Nope but it’s that ridiculous contract that is a noose around our neck. If Reece James can't play RCB, RB or RWB , then he is holding the team to Ransom.

We need to start having the uncomfortable conversations, but there isn’t a market.

2 minutes ago, markpitts said:

Nope but it’s that ridiculous contract that is a noose around our neck. If Reece James can't play RCB, RB or RWB , then he is holding the team to Ransom.

We need to start having the uncomfortable conversations, but there isn’t a market.

You could easily say the same for Fofana. Both of those guys should be the ones setting the standards, and not in the conversation for who was most at fault for goals conceded ...

3 minutes ago, markpitts said:

Nope but it’s that ridiculous contract that is a noose around our neck. If Reece James can't play RCB, RB or RWB , then he is holding the team to Ransom.

We need to start having the uncomfortable conversations, but there isn’t a market.

He’s not holding the team to ransom.

We’re lucky to have him. He’s playing midfield because we’re short on numbers, which is really annoying. His fitness is the best I’ve seen for years.

If he stays fit all season… I say start him at right back next season.

4 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

He’s not holding the team to ransom.

We’re lucky to have him. He’s playing midfield because we’re short on numbers, which is really annoying. His fitness is the best I’ve seen for years.

If he stays fit all season… I say start him at right back next season.

If he's as fit as you say, then he really should be playing in his specialist position at right back or right wing back. The fact that Alonso is choosing to play Neto or Gusto there instead speaks volumes ...

2 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

He’s not holding the team to ransom.

We’re lucky to have him. He’s playing midfield because we’re short on numbers, which is really annoying. His fitness is the best I’ve seen for years.

If he stays fit all season… I say start him at right back next season.

The club know more than we do, and there is a reason most of our managers since last season have insisted on moving him into the middle of the park.

He doesn’t have the legs to play as a marauding RB anymore. If Alonso insists on playing 3-4-3 there is no role for him.

Martin Odegaard keeps winning games for this sorry incarnation of an Arsenal team, and yet people here are doubting whether we should trust in a player of Reece James' calibre post-injury.

I think Jordan Henderson might be a better option in midfield than Reece James. I am a Reece James fan and i dislike 'Hendo' but hey ho i think its worth a try. Sadly, this might play out when Reece has his next injury lapse.

Edited yesterday at 05:221 day by OTL

Only Chelsea fans could look at a player like Reece James and claim hes a noose around the neck, the f**k is wrong with you people.

Hes in the middle of the park because we have no one else to play that role, he is one of the best RB`s in the league and should be played there, but currently hes having to fill a role for his manager.

Honestly, this forum lately has lost its collective minds.

9 hours ago, markpitts said:

The club know more than we do, and there is a reason most of our managers since last season have insisted on moving him into the middle of the park.

He doesn’t have the legs to play as a marauding RB anymore. If Alonso insists on playing 3-4-3 there is no role for him.

RCB like he played in the youth teams.

RWB like he was world class for Tuchel.

CM where he set the world alight for Wigan.

Take your pick, he fits in any of those positions and is better than what is currently available in all of them. Hope this helps.

Unpopular opinion.

I think Reece is not the best option to be a captain. I love him to bits, he's a world class talent and Chelsea through and through but he's just not vocal enough and does not command the kind of respect a true captain should.

Watching the last game vs Arse makes it even more obvious, he's just too reserved and shy. Arsenal players are trying to bully and sh*thouse us all over the pitch, and the moment sh*t goes down, they're all over our player, or a ref, and Reece is just, well... there. Even Colwill has more of an attitude and has no problem getting into people's faces.

I'm not saying you should run around screaming and picking fights all game like a madman, but there are times in almost every match where you got to stand up for your team. And captain should lead by example.

If he's not able to play RWB then he should be playing RCB. The man is not a midfielder.

40 minutes ago, abramovich said:

Unpopular opinion.

I think Reece is not the best option to be a captain. I love him to bits, he's a world class talent and Chelsea through and through but he's just not vocal enough and does not command the kind of respect a true captain should.

I don't think it should be unpopular and I think too many people hold off on criticising James just because he came through the academy.

He makes too many excuses. I'm not interested in hearing our captain say Arsenal have been together under Arteta a lot longer. I never saw Terry, Cahill or Azpilicueta making that excuse when a new manager came in, so I don't want to hear it from James either.

There's no such thing as a game coming too early when it's against your rivals. Hull played their first game of the season against United and beat them.

1 hour ago, abramovich said:

Watching the last game vs Arse makes it even more obvious, he's just too reserved and shy. Arsenal players are trying to bully and sh*thouse us all over the pitch, and the moment sh*t goes down, they're all over our player, or a ref, and Reece is just, well... there. Even Colwill has more of an attitude and has no problem getting into people's faces.

I'm not saying you should run around screaming and picking fights all game like a madman, but there are times in almost every match where you got to stand up for your team. And captain should lead by example.

This annoyed me too. When Rogers went mad at Rice, there was about 5 Arsenal players that quickly pounced to protect him and were in the refs ear. Only one of our players came over and that was Gusto, and all he did was pull Rogers away. I said in the match thread that all of this whining about Arsenal's dark arts isn't going to change anything. You need a bit of nastiness in you to compete at the top and you certainly need it to win titles. I think we lack that and James certainly does too.