Pat Nevin offered the idea to Thomas Tuchel of playing Reece James in midfield for Chelsea against Zenit St Petersburg tomorrow.
Writing in his column for the club website, Nevin proposed a possible positional change for the England international.
Tuchel can allow himself a little extra experimental leeway on Wednesday, due to his side having already qualified for the Champions League elimination stages.
Plus, the intensity of the fixture schedule means some players need a break, whilst others need a breakthrough.
Give Reece a go
In order to give the regular central midfielders time to recharge the batteries, James could well move further infield from his right flank.
After all, it’s a switch Gareth Southgate has successfully overseen before whilst away on national team duty.
“Could Chelsea consider a few tweaks here and there in Russia?” pondered Nevin.
“I reckon a number of options might be worth looking at. Reece James in midfield?
“Yes, I know we would miss his crosses from the right, but then we might get even more of his hammer shots from 30 yards as a bonus, and anyway it could be worth seeing how he manages.”
Trial and error
It would certainly be a good test for James to try his talents against an established European outfit.
His previous experience of playing in midfield came in routine victories for England over Andorra and San Marino.
He briefly featured centrally on the final day of last season for Chelsea away to Aston Villa, but was unable to prevent a 2-1 defeat.
An hour or so in Russia will be an altogether different examination of the 21-year-old’s skill set.
Thankfully, with Mateo Kovacic on the verge of returning from injury, Tuchel probably won’t have to move James from his natural station too often after tomorrow’s fixture.
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