Reece James was one of Chelsea’s star performers on Sunday afternoon as they picked up a crucial victory against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
After returning to action following a lengthy layoff at Liverpool last weekend, the Blues captain was given a rest away at Panathinaikos in the Conference League. James, however, was thrown straight back in a few days later as Chelsea welcomed Newcastle to Stamford Bridge.
The 24-year-old completed 90 minutes for the first time since April 2023 on Sunday afternoon and massively impressed with some crucial blocks in the second-half to help the hosts overcome the Magpies in SW6. James, a graduate from the Chelsea academy system, has been horrendously unfortunate over the last two-and-a-bit seasons with multiple injury problems.
In the 2022/23 campaign, James missed a total of 16 matches in all competitions through injuries. The following season, James picked up a hamstring problem during the draw with Liverpool on the opening weekend, where he missed nine matches overall before returning to action.
Then, at Goodison Park in December, disaster struck. Another hamstring injury forced James off the pitch and enough was enough as far as he was concerned. The Blues skipper chose to undergo surgery on his hamstring that would see him ruled out until May of the following year, where he made an impactful 11-minute cameo in the away win at Nottingham Forest.
A few days later, Chelsea travelled down to the south coast and to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton. James was brought on as a second-half substitute as Mauricio Pochettino continued to ease the right-back back into action but he was handed a straight red card, his second sending off of the 2023/24 season, meaning he would be forced to serve a four-game ban that would continue into the following campaign.
James did travel to the United States with the rest of the squad over the summer as Enzo Maresca started to work with the players he inherited from Pochettino. However, for the opening day defeat to Manchester City, James was unavailable for selection.
His suspension would end after the third game of the Premier League season against Crystal Palace, but by this point, he had injured his hamstring again. James returned against Liverpool at Anfield earlier in the month, where he played around 53 minutes before being taken off – something that was always in Maresca’s thinking.
It then allowed James to see out the entirety of the 90 minutes against Newcastle on Sunday – a big, big step for James in his road to full fitness. Getting James back to peak physical condition is imperative for Maresca and his staff, but how do they do it? Head coaches have come in at Chelsea, tried to do just this and ultimately failed.
Speaking on October 18, the Chelsea head coach explained his thinking, and how it is the same with Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana: “It is complicated when you get injury, injury, injury again. It is not easy so you are always looking for a solution.
“Probably the solution with Reece is the same solution we are using with Romeo and Wes in terms of using them just once a week, in one game, because probably in this moment, for different reasons, Reece’s body cannot play twice a week. One of the solutions is probably to try and manage him in the same way we are doing with Wes and Romeo.”
All three of James, Lavia and Fofana started against Newcastle at the weekend so it suggests they will not be present when the Blues make the trip to Tyneside to take on the Magpies in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
