Chelsea are about to face Liverpool at Anfield, and since the teams came out an hour ago, there’s only been one topic anyone is interested in – the selection of Reece James for Chelsea.
The full back was pictured in full team training this week, making us all hopeful hopeful he could pick up some minutes in the weeks to come, perhaps getting a first competitive start since last season in the upcoming Conference League games.
But manager Enzo Maresca threw us all a curve ball when he picked the full back to start today, at Anfield. A massive game to be dropped into. The manager was inevitably questioned about the move in his interview before kick off, and he defended the decision and said he was hopeful that the club captain could get more “games and minutes” in the weeks to come.
You can see the Chelsea manager speaking in the clip embedded here:
"He is back and hopefully he can get more games and minutes"
Enzo Maresca on Reece James starting for Chelsea against Liverpool 🔵 pic.twitter.com/0R9jmNY4yH
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 20, 2024
Maresca’s James move is a gamble
Of course, getting those minutes will all depend on making it through today’s game unscathed. As always, Chelsea fans will be twitching slightly every time he gets the ball. Maresca knows he’s taking a little gamble here. The traditional setup would be to give him some minutes as a sub, then build him up.
We’re not going to question Maresca though – he and his medical staff have been cautious so far, and have earned the benefit of the doubt.
The interested counterfactual is what would have happened had Marc Cucurella not picked up a yellow in our last game, against Nottingham Forest. He would then be available on the left, and Malo Gusto could play on the right. James would be on the bench. So there is no question that to some degree, James is back ahead of when he would otherwise be.
