Reece James’ latest injury problem could rule him out of the rest of the World Cup, and has proven that Enzo Maresca’s desire to play him in midfield was right all along.
The Chelsea captain was originally only ruled out for England’s next game against Panama, however that has extended to him becoming a doubt for the rest of the tournament.
Many believe Thomas Tuchel should have known better after being in charge of James during their time together at Stamford Bridge.
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Enzo Maresca was right all along in playing Reece James in midfield at Chelsea
The Blues have done what they can to maximise how much they can get out of James, and Enzo Maresca looked to do this by playing him in the middle of midfield.
Forming a partnership with Moises Caicedo, this took the workload off the England international and allowed him to feature more regularly in the side.
This decision was met with its critics, especially those Chelsea fans who struggled to warm to Maresca in charge from the day he was appointed.
Despite accusations of not using him in his original position, availability is the best ability and this was something that Maresca clearly noticed.
Maresca stated when he was in charge that he had seen James as a midfielder from day one, after making himself familiar with his time on loan at Wigan Athletic, when he played this role.
Even Tuchel seemed to start to accept this was the case, despite the fact that he was adamant he would use him as a right-back.
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He shifted James into midfield during England’s win against Croatia, rather than bringing on someone like Kobbie Mainoo of the bench.
Xabi Alonso set to follow in Enzo Maresca’s footsteps
It looks as if Alonso has already taken note of James’ status, and has already overseen Chelsea completing the signing of Marco Palestra.
The Italian largely plays as a wing-back, and will be taking the brunt of that workload on as opposed to an injury-prone James.
Alonso sees his club captain as a midfielder, and is rightfully following in the footsteps of Maresca when it comes with his verdict on how he should be used.
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