The Mezzala In Midfield

Originally published October 29th 2020.

From an early age, Reece James has been tipped for greatness and it has arguably come to fruition within the last 18 months. Influenced by a footballing family where his father Nigel is a UEFA Licensed coach and his sister Lauren is a star for FA WSL side Manchester United, ‘the beautiful game’ is all Reece has ever known. His footballing career started at Chelsea’s illustrious academy at Cobham when he was merely six years old and his development has been meteoric since captaining Chelsea’s under-18’s to FA Youth Cup success in 2018.

A stand out loan season at Championship side Wigan Athletic shortly followed, in which he was selected to the 2018-2019 Championship Team of the Season as well as winning three awards at Wigan’s end of season awards ceremony. Here the footballing world first saw what James was capable of as he produced many captivating performances in his first season playing in a heralded league. Starring in a frankly middling but hard-working Wigan side under Paul Cook, he demonstrated qualities far beyond his tentative years where he was utilised in not just his favoured right-back role as Cook featured James significantly as a box-to-box midfielder in the latter half of the 2018-2019 season. Marauding runs from right-back, out-strengthening opposition in duels and crisp passes from deep became a consistent feature for the Redbridge born youngster. A sign of his successful season was shown by Cook gifting James the captain’s armband in his last Wigan appearance at the spritely age of 19. Many Wigan supporters were enamoured with James’ wide skillset which also included a couple of terrific outside of the box goals as he became a firm fan-favourite, in doing so he reminded fans of the quality Wigan used to possess when they were once a regular Premier League outfit.

Whilst Wigan Athletic have sadly dropped to the third-tier of English football due to a disastrous financial administration in-part because of the incompetencies the EFL provides clubs in its due diligence of prospective owners, the ascendance James has shown since his loan move ended displays a direct antithesis of footballing fortunes. Under Frank Lampard’s stewardship as well as working alongside one of Europe’s top defensive right-back’s in Cesar Azpilicueta, James has quickly become one of England’s premier right backs. Featuring consistently across competitions of the highest standard such as the Premier League and Champions League have moulded James into a fearless all-action right-back.

Approaching 50 senior appearances across all competitions at one of football’s elite clubs in Chelsea before his 21st birthday is a sign of how highly Lampard and his coaching staff believe in the precocious talent. After over 25 games across multiple England youth team set-up’s, a recent national team debut under Gareth Southgate emphasises the quality James possesses, which is further accentuated when considering the myriad of talented right-backs’s at Southgate’s disposal. Highly reputable figures such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker are an example of where James now figuratively touches shoulders with.

Analytical Review

Despite being used in a rotation of full backs over the course of Lampard’s first 16 months in charge, James is arguably significantly more equipped in the attacking phase than his more defensive counterpart Azpilicueta and is also superior defensively than both Emerson and Marcos Alonso. In addition to James, Azpilicueta’s ability to feature at left-back (as well as a centre-back within a three) and the addition of Ben Chilwell from Leicester City effectively provides Lampard with three quality full-backs to choose from to fulfil the two full-back spots.

Whilst Frank Lampard has deployed multiple systems such as 3-5-2, 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, key characteristics such as attempting to dominate possession, a high pressing system and attackers cutting inside into central areas are all prominent despite the positional alterations. This typically creates space for Chelsea’s full-backs or wing-backs (dependent on formation) to utilise. Here James has excelled as he uses his athletic build to continuously adventure up and down the right flank, getting himself into attacking positions frequently. This is demonstrated by a high frequency of positive surging runs into attacking positions and putting in a constant supply of crosses into the box. Only Liverpool duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, Everton’s Lucas Digne and Burnley’s Charlie Taylor have attempted more crosses than James’ 27 in the 2020-2021 Premier League Season until now from the full-back spot’s

Whilst some of his attacking statistics are not staggering in his Chelsea career so far, only 3 assists in 43 appearances highlights this, there is evidence to suggest that his attacking output is likely to increase when analysing his crossing ability. Firstly, his expected assists totals 5.50 in those 43 appearances suggesting poor finishing from others has been detrimental to James’ overall attacking contribution. Throughout his career at both youth and senior level is has been evident his crossing threat is James’ greatest asset, notably his ability to put crosses in between centre-back’s at such frequency. An assist to Tammy Abraham against Aston Villa was an example of his crossing talent.

Many times James has whipped in sumptuous crosses which should’ve led to goals, such as this cross he put in here against Crystal Palace which Olivier Giroud ought to have headed into the net.

As well as this, James has a rather unusual ability to strike crosses when the ball is close to his standing foot without fully extending his leg in a golf-esque chipping motion. This means James does not need to wrap his foot around the ball as much as other players do when crossing. This shape he is able to generate subsequently results in the ability to cross from anywhere on the right side of the final third without the risk of of showing ‘too much of the ball’ to the opposition to come in and steal off him. This art is particularly effective when delivering from the ‘half-space’ when the angle to the box is more acute, a position the likes of Kevin De Bruyne have achieved great success from.

James arguably looks the complete modern day full-back at only 20 years old, he turns 21 in December, his talent on the ball support this notion as it is unquestionably strong and outlined by starting 13 Championship games in central midfield for Wigan. His ball skills and technical striking ability have been shown numerous times at Wigan and Chelsea. His recent wonder-strike against Brighton in the Blues’ domestic curtain raise is evidence to this, as well as superb solo-run and goal against Bristol City in his Wigan days. Whilst James may not be as adept at taking set-pieces like Trent Alexander-Arnold perhaps, he is certainly dangerous on the ball be it with crosses into the box, diagonal switches across the pitch or quick one-two’s with the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi.

James is difficult to dispossess due to his muscular 6″1″ frame and is confident at attempting to take on the opposition particularly when pushing the ball outside of a defender. In the 2019-2020 Premier League season, James succeeded in 59.3% of his 54 attempted dribbles, for reference only Kyle Walker-Peters (74.5%), Adama Traore (70.3%), George Baldock (64.4%) and Kyle Walker (62.1%) succeeded at a higher rate from the right-back/right-wing-back positions.

James is also a relatively strong defender, again due to his frame but also his deceptively quick acceleration and high stamina. Aerially James tends to dominate the pro-typical shorter winger too as shown by winning 57.8% of his 102 Aerial Duels in the previous Premier League season. As shown by Table 1 below, James is defensively effective in comparison to other right-back’s in the 2019-2020 Premier League season, revealing his attacking ability doesn’t necessarily mean he neglects his defensive responsibilities.

Table 1-Defensive Duel Comparison Between James and Established Premier League Right-Back’s

Name	Defensive Duels	Defensive Duels Won%
Reece James	143	62.9%
Trent Alexander-Arnold	213	54.0%
Kyle Walker	141	56.0%
Aaron Wan-Bissaka	288	64.6%
Ricardo Pereira	289	64.0%
Cesar Azpilicueta	305	71.8%

James’ defensive skills are also reflected in his Smarterscout ratings (advanced metric data that produces an overall rating between 0-99 via real-life data) for his ability in various situations. The ratings critically take into account the skill level of each opponent they engage in a duel with so reward players for getting the better of typically harder to beat opponents. Table 2 below shows a comparison of James and other highly rated right-backs in numerous categories using Smarterscout’s rankings throughout the 2019-2020 Premier League season.

Table 2- Smarterscout Defensive Comparison Between James and Established Premier League Right-Back’s

Name	Mins. Played at RB	Overall Defending Quality	Aerial Ability	Recovering Ability	Ground Duels out of Possession
Reece James	1,199	69	96	58	71
Trent Alexander-Arnold	3,363	75	12	96	39
Kyle Walker	2,319	82	44	65	94
Aaron Wan-Bissaka	2,870	80	13	78	95
Ricardo Pereira	2,412	70	64	55	14
Cesar Azpiliceuta	1,721	78	96	66	99

Firstly it must be noted that this data only includes minutes played at Right-Back during the 2019-2020 Premier League Season. James played 405 minutes at Right-Wing Back where his Overall Defending Quality was rated at 88 revealing his combined minutes at the two positions would place him very much in the mix of the very best at the right-side of defence within the Premier League. Clearly, James’ Aerial Ability stands out as a key defensive trait above his competitors which was previously alluded to being down to his muscular frame. An example of this is weighing 15kg higher and measuring 2″ taller than Aaron Wan-Bissaka which plays a massive factor in James’ comparative aerial dominance. However, arguably due to his size advantage James is not as mobile in defensive transition which is highlighted in his Recovering Ability when compared to the likes of Alexander-Arnold and Wan-Bissaka.

James is often keen to show the opponent to the outside which generally is implemented successfully due to his size and also the defensive cover provided by the likes of N’Golo Kante when the opposition attempts to drift in. However, this technique has caught James out as he arguably anticipates attackers motioning to the outside too often and is vulnerable if they instead cut inside or fake a cross. Aaron Cresswell’s goal for West Ham against Chelsea signifies this, there is a lack of defensive cover and James did not react quick enough to Cresswell’s advances in towards the box resulting in a fine strike from the West Ham left-back as James does not pressurise suitably.

As James develops further with more opportunities at club and country he is sure to provide a long-lasting threat from right-back for the next decade. Whilst he may have some scope to improve defensively he has the perfect mentor in Azpilicueta to learn from. The Spaniard’s defensive positioning is arguably unrivalled in the Premier League which will be helpful for the young England star to benefit from. Furthermore, Azpilicueta’s defensive versatility in which he can play left-back and centre-back within a back 3, as seen away to Manchester United recently, will offer James more playing time in his favoured right-back role. Add in Chelsea’s Summer 2020 transfer window haul consisting of quality attacking players Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech as well as hopefully a fitter Christian Pulisic across a whole season suggests there is more demand ready to make use of James’ constant crossing supply. A particular target for James will surely be Havertz when taking into account the German international’s 6″2″ frame and history of scoring headers at former club Bayer Leverkusen.

James should aim to be part of Gareth Southgate’s final 23-man squad for the European Championship which kicks off in June 2021 despite the embarrassment of riches at right-back England possess. If James reaches that squad considering the strong competition he faces he would surely have displayed immense quality over the season, thus continuing a succession of high-calibre Chelsea right-backs following on from Branislav Ivanovic and Azpilicueta. Whilst some may point towards his recent post final-whistle dismissal against Denmark as signs of immaturity and a case for hurting his future England chances. However, this was arguably a testament to his desire and passion to compete for every referee decision which will surely stand him in good stead for the foreseeable future. Going back to August 2016 when he first started playing at Chelsea Under 18’s, he has played over 11,600 minutes of club football without receiving a red card, showing the offence against Denmark is likely a minor blip. These characteristics have seen him touted as future Chelsea captain after all. Whatever this season holds, Chelsea and England know they have a forthcoming world-star at their disposal who is realising his potential rather rapidly in defence and attack.

Thank you for reading,

George

All Statistics courtesy of WyScout.com unless stated.