New role?
Enzo Maresca has revealed that he believes Reece James is a midfielder and not a defender.
James has spent his career as a right-back, right wing-back or a centre-back as part of a three-at-the-back system.
But Maresca has started to play him further forward and in a midfield role, and that’s where he played this evening.
The Chelsea captain was alongside Moises Caicedo in front of the defence, scoring in a 2-1 win against Copenhagen.
Speaking post-match about James’ new role, the Blues boss said: “We know how important he is for us.
“He’s our captain, a fantastic player. We need him fit, so that is our duty, our target because for sure he is going to help us.
“He can play in many positions because the good players can play in many positions.
“You can ask Reece, when I signed for Chelsea, the day after I sent him a video about seeing him as a midfielder.
“I see Reece as a midfielder. Since day one. I sent him a clip when he was on holiday about how he can be a midfielder.
“He has played in full-back, central defender, so the main target for us is to keep him fit.”
Maresca added: “First of all, when you watch a player you sometimes need to use imagination and imagining a player doing something.
“I watched some of his games when he was on loan at Wigan where he scored a fantastic goal from 25 or 30 metres.
“The best thing about Reece at the moment is he is helping the team with leadership.”
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