I wouldnt and couldnt blame him if HE chose to move on. Until then, love it that he is with us even if injured. We miss him when he doesnt play. Imagine how dangerous Noni and Palmer would be with him locking down the right back position Gusto has yet to do, albeit, a changed role this season. Thought he looked very good last year for us in a traditional role. James can do both with eyes shut and still remain productive with chance creations.

 

19 hours ago, abister1 said:

I'm not sure why you feel this way. I would say he's among the best 10 but calling him the best RB in the world I think is quite the stretch.

I'm more than comfortable saying he's the best RB in the world (when fit) and top 5 of all time. 

Its very rare a player is ever as complete as he is. The only RB's i can think of that come close are Lahm, Maicon (for his short prime) and Cafu. 

Trouble with James is, that it's now so long since he had a proper run in the side, that it's difficult to remember how good he is (was).

On his day, he is a fantastic player, but that's no good when those days are so few.

 

We wont see the best of James under this managers tactics, we rarely see Gusto get forward, i think he will be sold next summer

14 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Transfermarkt is sh*t when trying to determine true market value. I can promise you that if the club decided to put James up for sale, £30m wouldn't even be the lowest bidder's amount. It would be almost 2x. 

Transfermarket is pretty sh*t full stop. The valuations are based on user input meaning anyone with an internet connection can, as it were, add their tuppence worth.

16 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Agreed. Imo United and City would both believe their medical departments can sort him out and would risk 50mill on one of the world's potentially best full backs.

City? Not a chance! Pep doesn’t even do fullbacks. Can we please stop calling him one of the world’s best full backs, it’s been just one season. He is one of those players that is viewed as better the more he is off injured. 

Edited October 15, 20241 yr by ducavis

16 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Transfermarkt is sh*t when trying to determine true market value. I can promise you that if the club decided to put James up for sale, £30m wouldn't even be the lowest bidder's amount. It would be almost 2x. 

Based on what? Clubs aren’t paying top fees anymore, and you keep forgetting those ridiculous wages. No one is paying top dollar for a player that averages 10 games a season. It will be £30m + bonuses

7 minutes ago, ducavis said:

City? Not a chance! Pep doesn’t even do fullbacks. Can we please stop calling him one of the world’s best full backs, it’s been just one season. He is one of those players that is viewed as better the more he is off injured. 

Reece is better than Gvardiol in every aspect of the game and they paid £80m for him. You think they wouldn't want a right sided Gvardiol? Behave. 

12 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Based on what? Clubs aren’t paying top fees anymore, and you keep forgetting those ridiculous wages. No one is paying top dollar for a player that averages 10 games a season. It will be £30m + bonuses

He's only 24, and what's been alluded to in this entire thread, is that when fit he's without a doubt the most complete RB on the planet. "10 games a season" Reece James was being sniffed about from Real who were eyeing up an £80m bid before we told them to f**k off. 

The fact he's been injured so frequently whilst is still being listed among the top full backs on the planet is testament enough. 

5 hours ago, Nibs said:

Trouble with James is, that it's now so long since he had a proper run in the side, that it's difficult to remember how good he is (was).

On his day, he is a fantastic player, but that's no good when those days are so few.

 

 

6 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

I'm more than comfortable saying he's the best RB in the world (when fit) and top 5 of all time. 

Its very rare a player is ever as complete as he is. The only RB's i can think of that come close are Lahm, Maicon (for his short prime) and Cafu. 

I agree with you guys that he's one of the best RB's but 3 yrs ago. Nobody can say for a fact that all that time off hasn't had an affect on him though. We just have to wait and see.

 

 

4 hours ago, POCH OUT said:

We wont see the best of James under this managers tactics, we rarely see Gusto get forward, i think he will be sold next summer

1) he needs to be fit first.

2) we've already seen maresca change tactics before and in preseason when james was playing, he did both. I think he's clever enough to know when to go down the outside and when to come into the middle in the same game. Maresca would love that now I imagine.

My worry is he cant be at the level he was anymore, then gets pushed too hard and back to the nurses office.

If he can't cope with his bombing down the line like before but we get the rest of his game in a more comfortable area for him then I'm all for it, tbh.

7 hours ago, POCH OUT said:

We wont see the best of James under this managers tactics, we rarely see Gusto get forward, i think he will be sold next summer

I actually think James is much more suited to the role than Gusto. We just need to get the guy fit.

Every time he’s come back he’s improved us I’d say.

I’d be dead against selling him that’s for sure.

He will be managed the same as Fofana in that Maresca won’t be allowed to play him at the weekend and then during the week probably until next year.

Maresca’s system should be a bit better regarding Reece’s workload so I’m cautiously optimistic that he’ll play lots of games this season. The fact we have excellent cover in Gusto should allow us to manage him back with less chance of a muscle injury. 
 

I can’t see any club giving us close to what we’d demand for him anyway. If he comes back and plays a few games then gets injured again I don’t see anyone buying him.

if he comes back and plays the rest of the season or close to it then we are not letting him go.

It would/will be absolutely sickening to watch him playing against us.

Reece must stay.

Bet's on him being fit come May?  Can he make it 6 months without another "set back"? If Reece can stay fit until the end of the season that's is going to be a great boost to the team.  Fingers crossed.

22 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

Coincidentally, another one who is "always" injured. Madrid wouldn't even think of letting him go.

Since start of 22/23 season

Reece James 26 league games

Carvajal 63 league games

He isn't comparable. 

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

Since start of 22/23 season

Reece James 26 league games

Carvajal 63 league games

He isn't comparable. 

I think the main point is if Carvajal can come back from those games he missed in 17/18 to 21/22, why can't James?

49 minutes ago, Argo said:

I think the main point is if Carvajal can come back from those games he missed in 17/18 to 21/22, why can't James?

To add to that. 

Kyle Walker at the start of his career had a series of groin injuries that made him very injury prone up until the age of 24...

10 hours ago, Argo said:

I think the main point is if Carvajal can come back from those games he missed in 17/18 to 21/22, why can't James?

 

9 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

To add to that. 

Kyle Walker at the start of his career had a series of groin injuries that made him very injury prone up until the age of 24...

James has failed to make 19 league games for the last two seasons and I expect he will fail to make 19 this season too. If that is the case, I would want him to go.

Both Carvajal and Walker have only missed half of a league season once in their career. James has done it twice in two years. 

Edited October 16, 20241 yr by bisright1

10 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Kyle Walker at the start of his career had a series of groin injuries that made him very injury prone up until the age of 24...

I feel like I've hit my quota of Kyle Walker jokes for the month so I'll let somebody else have this one.

20 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Reece is better than Gvardiol in every aspect of the game and they paid £80m for him. You think they wouldn't want a right sided Gvardiol? Behave. 

How is he better than Gvardiol? They are 2 different players. Gvardiol is a CB with the versatility to play as a RB. He is one of the reasons Pep hasn’t bought a fullback in the last 2 years. No; they are 2 different players. You look at Pep & Arteta’s defence and they are filled with 6fters. That is one of the key reasons both teams can line up with 4CBs.

20 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He's only 24, and what's been alluded to in this entire thread, is that when fit he's without a doubt the most complete RB on the planet. "10 games a season" Reece James was being sniffed about from Real who were eyeing up an £80m bid before we told them to f**k off. 

The fact he's been injured so frequently whilst is still being listed among the top full backs on the planet is testament enough. 

Who is listing him as one of the top fullbacks though? It’s US Chelsea fans. Do you ever watch England now with Walker, Trent and now with Rico Lewis & Livramento, and say England are missing Reece James? He is a very good player but I feel he is one of those like Mbappe & Bellingham that benefits from good PR and has been made out to be better than he is. If you dig deeper into his stats; bar that one season where he outperformed every metrics (same with Chilwell and Mount), he hasn’t really been outstanding. The funny thing is Chilwell has better stats than James, and no one is heralding him as the best LB on the planet.

14 hours ago, bisright1 said:

Since start of 22/23 season

Reece James 26 league games

Carvajal 63 league games

He isn't comparable. 

Since Reece's debut season he's played 153 league games, Carvajal has played 155 in that time.

Reece 211 in all comps and Carvajal 227 all comps. Pretty comparable. 

Edited October 16, 20241 yr by Ukraine Bolt

45 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Since Reece's debut season he's played 153 league games, Carvajal has played 155 in that time.

Reece 211 in all comps and Carvajal 227 all comps. Pretty comparable. 

Thats irrelevant though? James played 47 of those games for wigan. Almost all of those games were before his problems started. 

IF he has another season of barely featuring, then there is absolutely no comparison. You cant just pull up the appearances when he was a healthy player, you have to look at the trend. 

If James manages to string 3/4 months together with no injuries, I'll start to feel differently. But I just don't see that happening. 

Ledley King played 170+ games before his problems started. And he was still then able to play more than James plays for us. 

I can't think of another player who has gone off the rails appearance wise, for so long, and then had a career. 

I like him, a lot. And if there's a way he can have a career in a softer league/environment, I'd be delighted for him. I just don't see how he's going to have any career for us. 

Calling Reece James a "good player" is akin to calling the Aston Martin DB5 an ok car.

1 minute ago, dkw said:

Calling Reece James a "good player" is akin to calling the Aston Martin DB5 an ok car.

Better to say a fantastic car that unfortunately is off the road more often than not and unlikely to pass it's next MOT!

 

2 hours ago, ducavis said:

Who is listing him as one of the top fullbacks though? It’s US Chelsea fans. Do you ever watch England now with Walker, Trent and now with Rico Lewis & Livramento, and say England are missing Reece James? He is a very good player but I feel he is one of those like Mbappe & Bellingham that benefits from good PR and has been made out to be better than he is. If you dig deeper into his stats; bar that one season where he outperformed every metrics (same with Chilwell and Mount), he hasn’t really been outstanding. The funny thing is Chilwell has better stats than James, and no one is heralding him as the best LB on the planet.

The difference between James and Chilwell is that the latter hasn't looked anywhere near his former self whereas when James comes back from injury, he immediately picks up where he left off. Problem we need to solve is to keep him fit, as when fit for a season he puts up TAA numbers whilst also being a rock defensively. He's only 24 and there is enough time for him to mitigate those injuries, ala Kyle Walker. 

This isn't a strictly "US Chelsea Fans" train of thought. I find it ironic you say that when England fans are constantly reminded of Reece James every time TAA or Walker put up the occasional defensive stinker. 

3 hours ago, bisright1 said:

 

James has failed to make 19 league games for the last two seasons and I expect he will fail to make 19 this season too. If that is the case, I would want him to go.

Both Carvajal and Walker have only missed half of a league season once in their career. James has done it twice in two years. 

I really don't care about the number of matches. The point I am showing you is that Kyle Walker had chronic groin issues which made him injury prone up until the age of 24. 

James is 24 so it isn't too late for him in the slightest.