When it became clear that Reece James wasn’t going to start against Wolves yesterday, there was a lot of moaning on social media about Cesar Azpilicueta being in the team.
The defender is the natural replacement for James at right back if we play a back 4, but some bad recent performances from the club captain have seen some fans give up on him entirely.
But yesterday he came in to the team and gave a truly excellent performance. In the first half in particular he was brilliant both in attack and defence, delivering several crosses that should have been converted and keeping Adama Traore in his pocket.
There were memes comparing him to Cafu flying around by half time, which tells you everything you need to know.
So while he will certainly play less and less, don’t even count him out. When our players stand up to be counted, Azpi will be there.
