What Reece James did in 2019 was a fascinating preview of 2025 debates | OneFootball

Reece James and the debate about his “leadership skills” have been quite the minor plotline at Chelsea this season.

The right back has remained as the club captain, despite his own manager Enzo Maresca making some quite frank comments about needing to see more from him in terms of getting the group going.

James is a quite quiet and shy guy, and can lead by example better than by giving speeches.

Still, we’ve seen real growth in that department in the last couple of years, and it should be remembered that this isn’t his first time in a leadership role.

As the Chelsea Chronicle noted, he was given the armband as a teenager in his first season as a senior pro, on loan at Wigan:

“Reece has been an outstanding professional during his time at our club and someone who completely deserves the praise he gets,” then manager Paul Cook wrote in his programme notes during their last game of the season.

“With that said, Reece will captain the team on Sunday and it’s likely that we’ll bring him off during the latter stages of the game so that our supporters can give him the ovation he deserves.”

James can grow his leadership skills as long as he’s on the pitch

Reece James celebrates after a big win. (Photo by Patrik Lundin/Getty Images)

Injuries have wiped out so many good years of James’ career, and have probably also massively knocked his confidence on and off the pitch. It’s hard to be a chest-beating leader when you can’t even rely on your own body. If he had played consistently since that first captaincy in 2019, the argument would be framed very differently.

All in all, if you’re debating James’ leadership that must be because he’s fit, and if he’s fit that can only be a good thing. So long may the debates continue, no matter what your opinion is…