I'm quietly hoping it was run past Thiago first and he gave his thoughts!

Good choice Chelsea!

Good to hear he’s been appointed captain.

Edited August 9, 20232 yr by erskblue

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

 

Always the correct and only choice!!

Blue flowing through his vains!!

The genuine article unlike some “made in china” fake! 

Let's hope he can stay injury free.

 

Made up Reece got it, but think it should’ve been Silva just for one season, and Reece vice until taking it over.

Silva should have been vice if Reece was captain, imo. But he'll still be a leader without armband.

36 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Silva should have been vice if Reece was captain, imo. But he'll still be a leader without armband.

Silva will be captain this season how frequent do you think both Reece and Ben will play 🤣

I know we shouldn’t joke about it but if the past few seasons are anything to go by both will get injured in winter and come back in spring!

 

14 hours ago, Zeta said:

Silva should have been vice if Reece was captain, imo. But he'll still be a leader without armband.

That's the key. Leadership is more than about armbands. The James-Chilwell combo is the future, which Thiago isn't, regardless of his outstanding attributes. Wouldn't surprise me if he recommended the J-C combo.

If you were unsure how much this means to Reece, have a read https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/reece-james-letter-to-younger-self

 

Reece James is a good choice for captain. He is a young lad and has a ton to learn. His heart is in the right place which is important. He is also a fighter what you need to be a captain. 

My concern with him is he is sort of a quiet person in terms of speaking vocally. He speaks in volumes on the pitch and he has a mean streak to him.

I bet after getting the armband he will get a red card when we have trouble on the pitch. He has shown signs of it many times. Where I love the idea of protecting your flock till the end a la Terry there is the flipside to it. It almost cost us the Champions League 2011. And JT is very vocal.

When you are unable to vocalize your thoughts you use your body. And Reece has a massive one. He needs to be able to control his emotions not to get sent off. You could see his sister been thrown off just a few days ago. There is that sort of mean streak. 

Now he's not sent off before for violent things the armband will up the ante. Hopefully he is able to control these emotions. 

Another problem him being captain is he is very injury prone. Hopefully our medical/physiological team gets their sh*t together and make Reece get a bit leaner so there isn't this mich strain to his legs. 

Anyway I think he is the right captain for us. He is clearly one of the most talented footballer we have. 

2 hours ago, dermott said:

That's the key. Leadership is more than about armbands. The James-Chilwell combo is the future, which Thiago isn't, regardless of his outstanding attributes.

Just for one season would've been fine though while Silva wraps things up at Chelsea. Work closely with him during that season and take in all his words and experience. Anyway, its neither here or there now, nice one to Reece, I'm sure he'll handle it all well!

6 minutes ago, Mod said:

Just for one season would've been fine though while Silva wraps things up at Chelsea. Work closely with him during that season and take in all his words and experience. Anyway, its neither here or there now, nice one to Reece, I'm sure he'll handle it all well!

Thiago's main job along with playing well is to teach the young up and comers such as Colwill, who already sang his praises on Silva. 

I am pretty sure Silva has said the captain should be Reece or someone else. 

That dude is a backbone in so many ways.

Always prefer captains to be a defender or a keeper as they see the entire pitch at all times.

Even better that its a Cobham lad. 

Shift RJ to DM. Use Gusto and Chalobah as RB. Sorted.

23 minutes ago, Gordon Bennett said:

Shift RJ to DM. Use Gusto and Chalobah as RB. Sorted.

Great idea, move one of the best right backs in football to a position he'll be much less effective. Why not put him in goal.

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Great idea, move one of the best right backs in football to a position he'll be much less effective. Why not put him in goal.

It's a gamble, but it could pay off 🤔

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

It's a gamble, but it could pay off 🤔

Couldn’t do worse than Kepa…

Didn't take long to pick up a knock then. Really feels like he's going to be one of those "what-if" players. We'll all be wondering just how good he could have been, if only he wasn't injured all the time.

33 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Didn't take long to pick up a knock then. Really feels like he's going to be one of those "what-if" players. We'll all be wondering just how good he could have been, if only he wasn't injured all the time.

Was he injured though? Didn't look it. He was smiling with Chilwell when he gave him the armband and jogged off the pitch. 

On 11/08/2023 at 09:38, dkw said:

Great idea, move one of the best right backs in football to a position he'll be much less effective. Why not put him in goal.

Above everything else, we may have to no choice but to put him a less taxing position if his injuries don't subside.

Didn't look particularly worried going off, must have told the gaffer he needed to leave 10 mins early for a birthday party or something. Done the same at Sunday league.

I suspect a twinge, and with his injury record he was pulled immediately.

Poch confirmed just fatigue.