He didn't stay with Jones because he wanted to force the offsides trap. He had a misunderstanding of what the backline needed to do in that situation. Almost as if he was absent for the majority of training sessions due to injury...

2 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Why are we pretending like Reece was awful yesterday? He was the best player in an awful back line. Tosin, Colwill and Gusto were all far worse than him.

The original discussion was about selling him because he won't be the same player, he still is. 

I think you are really twisting things here just to make your point and fit in with previous narrative. It was very well understood as @Remodez said that the line was that he would pick up like he never left whenever he returned back to action.

He may have done well but what impact did his presence have in the backline? It was unsettling as players were out of normal positions. 

He may have been the best performer but it was also his lapse in concentration or getting tired that led to goal. 

He was slow to see that the defence was lining up an offside trap. When he realised and decided to join it, he was late stepping forward and at the same time, Curtis has started his run, he had the best angle to see that run, pick him up and cut the danger but reaction was really slow.

Edited October 21, 20241 yr by abister1
Spell

Just really good to see him back... Really good. Lets see how he gets on

Quite the statement Maresca gave about Reece James leadership qualities or lack of earlier.

He also praised Colwill as a leader. I actually agree with most of what he said but the timing is poor imo and as usual the press are all over it. “James fighting for his Chelsea future”.

The moment he got injured in pre season Maresca could and should have taken the captaincy away from him without much of a storm. He could have just said that he needed his captain on the pitch and I’m sure James would have accepted that.

I hope he gets fit and nails down his position. He needs to concentrate on his fitness and form after all he’s been through rather than being captain.

 

He said he was too reserved and shy in the changing rooms. As has been established for quite a while now, the decision, Boehly (probably) made for marketing reasons (academy boy etc) to give him captaincy was insane and made no sense. Unnecessary extra pressure when at the time we had Silva.

9 hours ago, 19seventyone said:

He also praised Colwill as a leader. I actually agree with most of what he said but the timing is poor imo and as usual the press are all over it. “James fighting for his Chelsea future”.

What the press say is absolutely meaningless. The newspapers are simply comic books for thick people.

If Maresca were British I am absolutely certain he is the sort of person who would use the words 'paradigm', 'transformational' and 'enterprise'.

Worst Italian the Premier League has ever suffered. At least di Canio was funny. Here are some pictures of Reece James winning things while Maresca was learning management-speak as Guardiola's lackey:

 

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

If Maresca were British I am absolutely certain he is the sort of person who would use the words 'paradigm', 'transformational' and 'enterprise'.

Worst Italian the Premier League has ever suffered. At least di Canio was funny. Here are some pictures of Reece James winning things while Maresca was learning management-speak as Guardiola's lackey:

 

I think Maresca has a point. Of course there are different types of captain but I feel we need a vocal one like Colwill especially as the squad is so young 

22 minutes ago, 19seventyone said:

I think Maresca has a point. Of course there are different types of captain but I feel we need a vocal one like Colwill especially as the squad is so young 

This is true leadership:

Again, a big deal is made out of nothing. I am sure Maresca has expressed his opinion to Reece before the reporters. However, the comments Maresca made are important because if he can criticise the captain publicly he can do it with any of them if they don’t perform.

He’s not wrong. 

No idea why anyone would want to sell him, he's one of the best players in the game. 

1 minute ago, dkw said:

No idea why anyone would want to sell him, he's one of the best players in the game. 

What was it? 2 goal preventing clearances? 

90 minutes. super stuff from James today and some much needed goal line clearances. Not doing so much going forward, made it to my fantasy team already.

1 minute ago, Sconnie Blue said:

What was it? 2 goal preventing clearances? 

Yeah, and several other good interceptions.

I mean he's been out for ages, plays out of position and is man of the match. An incredible player.

Oh captain, my captain!

The only thing I want is for him to just stay fit.

Today's performance reminded me of our CL winning run. He was everywhere - blocking and clearing everything.

Strong performance today.

Loved seeing him get 90 minutes. The diving header at the end was perfect. Could have easily been an own goal.

37 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Loved seeing him get 90 minutes. The diving header at the end was perfect. Could have easily been an own goal.

And whilst Maresca is not wrong about leadership qualities, actions are so often so much stronger than words. The other players were all over him for that header and the others.

Brilliant today, a real captains performance.

I think lampard said that James is shy and needed to grow more in terms of his personality so Maresca is probably right. 

Well done to him.

He needed that from maresca it seems and quick reminder at half time.

Amazing...saved 3 goals today with that last one, the header, I thought it was going to be an own goal!

On 21/10/2024 at 11:06, Remodez said:

The whole point of that discussion was that it didn't matter previously, he would come back and perform to his usual world class standards regards of who it was agaisnt and how many mins he got. This is happening less frequently. I don't believe this is a controversial statement, it could be due to factors outside of his control seeing as our defence overall has gotten worse but the point still remains. 

Came back and performing to his usual world class standards. Only took him 53 average minutes to get up to speed. 

Put him in my fantasy team last week. nuff said. had to slap myself to not put him as captain and keep palmer. 

someone put him in cryostasis until the next game and wheel him out. 

Played well today , much needed because in his fleeting appearances over the last year he’s been poor. Think Marescas comments about leadership is fluff, he generally does his talking on the pitch.