With the English domestic football season over, attention is turning to the Euros which kick off in just a couple of weeks.
Chelsea have relatively few players heading out to Germany, especially compared to a few years ago when it felt like there would be a Blue domination of the squad long term given the talent crop of youngsters coming through.
One of the big problems has been injury, and one man who could have 100 caps were it not for fitness issues is Reece James. He’s just lived through another campaign ruined by medical issues, but that hasn’t diminished the impression he made on his Three Lions teammates.
Kyle Walker, his rival for a right back slot in Gareth Southgate’s setup, named James as the “complete right back.” It’s some praise coming from perhaps the world’s best in that role.
“Reece James. He’s just got everything. Everything. If I could make a complete right-back, it would be him. Defend, attack, technically, both-footed, dead-ball situations, quick,” Walker said on 5 Live.
Kyle Walker when asked to name the best right-back:
“Reece James. He’s just got everything. Everything. If I could make a complete right-back, it would be him. Defend, attack, technically, both-footed, dead-ball situations, quick.’’
~ @5liveSport pic.twitter.com/ZhQWIVbnpV
— Vince™ (@Blue_Footy) May 29, 2024
Respect from the very best
Anyone who watches James regularly comes to the same conclusion, and clearly that goes for other full backs too. Walker is the man usually named as the number one, but even he concedes that on pure quality alone James has him.
What Walker has dominated James in is availability – he’s played more than 400 Premier League games and rarely gets injured. That’s an even more invaluable characteristic than James’ technical skills and all around game.
James played his first minutes since hamstring surgery in the final games of the season, and now has a summer with preseason to pray that finally getting full on medical intervention will do the trick in getting him back fit on a regular basis. Many fans have given up hope of that, and we don’t blame them at all.
