Thomas Tuchel explains reason behind playing Chelsea star Reece James as a central midfielder in the 3-3 draw to Zenit
Speaking in his post-match press conference, as quoted by The Metro, Thomas Tuchel revealed that he had to play Chelsea ace, Reece James, in midfield against Zenit due to their injury list.
The Blues conceded three goals in consecutive games for the first time under Tuchel on Wednesday night. West Ham had done so on the weekend, and the Russian champions followed up in the mid-week clash.
However, the selection was all over the place. James and Ross Barkley were in midfield while Saul Niguez was fielded as a left wing-back. But the German boss had little to pick from, given that most of his midfielders are out injured.
Tuchel was asked after the game whether James had a future as a midfielder and the gaffer dismissed those claims by stating that it had to be done due to the unavailability of certain players.
‘I expect N’Golo, Mateo, Jorgi and Ruben to start in midfield, but they are all out, so we had to get creative with Reece (James). The target is to put him on the wing, but we need players in midfield.’
Not the worst midfielder
For somebody who recently celebrated their 22nd birthday, the Englishman is not too bad in unorthodox roles on the pitch. He featured in that position during his stellar loan spell at Wigan Athletic but has since been deployed in his natural role as a full-back/wing-back.
His strengths lie on the wing, given his crossing ability and a wand of a right foot. However, he did not disappoint in central midfield either yesterday. Zenit did score three goals and overran the youngster in the centre of the pitch but that was partly due to the attacking role his partner Barkley assumed.
If one of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, or Mateo Kovacic was fielded alongside the full-back, he could have excelled. Then again, if those three were fit, James would not be playing in that role. But given the current injury list, he remains a better option than Saul. Tuchel seems to think so too given the Spaniard was played on the left flank yesterday as compared to central midfield.
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He was decent in all honesty but did not perform as good a job as James did in his natural position. Regardless, the English international remains a viable option but not one that we should bank on week-after-week.