London, March 7 (IANS) Reece James’ ability to play in various positions has always been one of his key strengths, and Enzo Maresca shared that he spoke about the possibility of the Chelsea captain playing in midfield just one day after taking the job. During the latter part of his 2018/19 loan at Wigan Athletic, James stood out in a central midfield role, earning the club’s Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year, and Goal of the Season awards by the end of the campaign.
Although the 25-year-old has rarely featured in midfield or central defence for either Chelsea or England, Maresca confirmed that the idea of James playing in the centre of the park was always considered.
“You can ask Reece, the day after I signed with Chelsea, I sent him a video about seeing him as a midfielder. I see Reece as a midfielder, not just now but since day one. Before I met him for the first time, when he was on holiday, I sent him a clip of how he could play as a midfielder.
“So I imagined him playing as a midfielder a long time ago. He is playing [there] now, but the good thing is this season he has played as a full-back, a central defender, many positions, but the main target for us is to help him stay fit all season,” said Maresca to Chelsea’s media team.
James’ first 10 appearances this season were at either right-back or left-back, but with his fitness improving all the time following injury, the last two games, against Aston Villa and Copenhagen, have seen him feature in the heart of midfield.
Thursday night’s 2-1 win against FC Copenhagen saw James lead from the front once more as he scored the game’s opening goal with a low drive from outside the box.
“When you watch a player, you have to use your imagination and imagine a player doing something. So, I always imagined him behaving as a midfielder. I then watched some of his games when he was on loan at Wigan, and I still remember he scoring a fantastic goal from 30 metres as a midfielder. So I remembered the video I sent him.
“Especially, the best thing in this moment is he is helping us in leadership [too]. He is growing a lot, nd this is important,” he added.
–IANS
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