Reece James shows leadership with classy gesture to Malo Gusto before Conference League final nightmare

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It is almost as if Chelsea captain Reece James predicted that Malo Gusto would have a game to forget against Real Betis on Wednesday night.

Gusto got the nod to start in the Conference League final but was taken off at half-time after failing to contain Abde Ezzalzouli.

James would have been disappointed not to be included in the first XI, but that did not prevent him from trying to help Gusto before the game had even kicked off.

After the full-time whistle, James was also seen with Enzo Maresca, pushing the 45-year-old towards the Chelsea supporters so that he could celebrate with them.

• READ MORE: Why the Italian media are so impressed with Enzo Maresca following Chelsea’s Conference League success

Reece James gave Malo Gusto some words of advice before Chelsea’s 4-1 win against Real Betis

In the past, James has been criticised for not showing leadership. However, the defender displayed plenty of it in Wroclaw on Wednesday.

Before the Conference League final kicked off, James was seen speaking into Gusto’s ear and encouraging the young full-back.

In the end, James had to replace Gusto at the break following the 22-year-old’s disastrous first half.

Thankfully, Gusto’s horror show did not prove costly. The introduction of James and a few other substitutions helped Chelsea to turn the game around completely.

Maresca‘s decision to move Cole Palmer over to the right also helped. From there, the attacking midfielder was able to create two of the Blues’ goals.

As for Gusto, hopefully Wednesday’s final will be a learning curve for him.

Malo Gusto’s numbers vs Real Betis

Gusto will not want to look back at his stats from Chelsea’s victory over Betis, as they really show how poor he was on the night.

For example, the France international was dribbled past once, made one error that led to a goal and only completed 29 out of the 37 passes he attempted.

Again, though, Gusto can learn from this. He is still young and has not really been helped by Maresca, who has asked him to invert into midfield this season. It is something that the former Lyon man is clearly not comfortable with doing yet.