Chelsea made a big mistake appointing Reece James as captain

Sam McGuire

• 29 Nov 2023 13:30 CST
• 4 min read

Chelsea lost a lot of experience in the summer.

Cesar Azpilicueta departed on a free transfer to join Atletico Madrid, N’Golo Kante made the switch to Al-Ittihad while Mason Mount moved to Manchester United. The latter was a divisive figure but he was a key player for the Blues, appearing over 50 times in three of his four full campaigns with the club.

It left a bit of a leadership void at the club and with such a high turnover of players over recent years, there wasn’t necessarily an obvious choice to replace Azpilicueta as captain. Those in charge determined that Reece James would be the best man for the job.

The versatile full-back made some sense. He joined the club aged six and is the poster boy for the Cobham project. Given the number of players signed by Todd Boehly in such a short space of time, the team needed someone with a strong connection to the club to lead this group and show them the ways. On paper, James made sense.

Speaking to the club website following the announcement, the No24 said: “I'm so happy to take on the role and responsibility. I know I've got big shoes to fill because we have had huge captains here in the past, but I am excited. I have been at Chelsea pretty much my whole life. I started here when I was six and to come through the Academy is tough. But to go on and become captain, it's a great feeling for me and my family.”

Manager Mauricio Pochettino said: ‘This is a decision taken by me and the club. We are very pleased Reece will captain the side this season ‘He leads by example and his attitude and dedication to Chelsea has been clear throughout pre-season. He proudly wore the armband during our summer tour and will take up the challenge of leading our squad with his own approach and ideas.”

Following the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on the opening day, a game in which James was subbed off with Pochettino citing tiredness concerns, the 23-year-old posted on social media with the caption: ‘New era loading…ps. We just getting started.’

Since then, he’s made just three more starts in the Premier League following a hamstring injury and the Blues have just one win - the 4-1 victory over Spurs - with their new skipper in the starting XI.

He was sent off in the recent 4-1 loss to Newcastle United at St James’ Park. The defeat left Pochettino’s side languishing in 10th position, 12 points off a top-four spot. The red card against the Magpies means James will miss the match against Brighton. We’re not far off the midway point in the Premier League campaign now, the game against the Seagulls will be Chelsea’s 14th of the season, and James will have appeared in just six matches. He’s yet to complete 90 minutes for the Blues this term.

These aren’t the sort of stats you want from your captain, are they? But what did Chelsea expect?

James is injury-prone. He has sustained a hamstring injury in each of the last four seasons. He’s also spent time on the sidelines with ankle, knee and thigh problems. He started just 14 Premier League matches last season and 22 the year before. This wasn’t as much of an issue though as the Blues still had the likes of Azpilicueta, Kante, Mount and even Mateo Kovacic in the squad. Not all of that quartet are famed for their leadership abilities but all four had been around the club long enough to get what it means to play for Chelsea.

James missing games was a problem because, well, being without a player of his quality always is. But the Blues weren’t reliant on him to set the tone, so his absence didn’t feel as significant.

That isn’t the case now. He’s the man for the Blues. And he’s not able to show up for them.

If they wanted him to be part of their leadership team, why not make him the club captain but then appoint a more reliable team captain? You usually see that when experienced players are phased out but it might’ve worked in this case because of just how injury-prone James is.

Chelsea have been accused of lacking an identity this season and it is little surprise when their manager is new and their captain isn’t available. It was a risky appointment to name James as skipper and it hasn’t paid off.