Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca reveals level of research into Reece James attributes

Enzo Maresca gave an indication into the level of research that he has conducted as Chelsea head coach during his first press conference.

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has given an insight into the level of research that he has conducted on his first-team squad.
When the Italian was appointed as the successor to Mauricio Pochettino, it became an open secret that his possession-based style of play had stood him in good stead with the club’s powers-that-be.

Two weeks of training have since taken place under the watchful eye of the former Leicester City boss, who has since selected a 28-player squad for the pre-season tour of the United States.

At his opening press conference in California on Tuesday evening, Maresca was quizzed on the respective situations involving Enzo Fernandez and Trevoh Chalobah.

Despite several questions being put to Maresca regarding those topics, he also gave a snippet into the work that he has been doing behind the scenes.

Maresca was quizzed on the subject of inverted full-backs given that Marc Cucurella have been a revelation in the role during the closing weeks of Pochettino’s reign.

Cucurella has since gone on to star for Spain at Euro 2024, helping La Roja lift the trophy, and the assumption was made that Reece James would not follow suit on the opposite flank.

Instead, Maresca insisted that no final decisions had been made at this stage of pre-season, revealing that he had gone as far back as the 2018-19 campaign when James was occasionally used as a midfielder by Wigan Athletic in the Championship.

Speaking to reporters, as quoted by football.london, the Italian said: “In these weeks, we try different situations [with inverting].

“We try James inside. I watched his games [for Wigan Athletic on loan] against, I don’t remember now, he was playing as a midfielder.

“Malo [Gusto] is trying to do that. Marc can do that. We will try different situations.”

James responds…
James, as club captain, was present at the same media briefing, making it a natural follow-up question for the assembled media.

The England international added: “There is a lot of adjustments to make to the new system. Whenever a new manager comes in, there is a lot to take on board. We’re excited.”

During the aforementioned Wigan stint, James was switched from right-back to defensive-midfielder at the beginning of February, making a total of 13 appearances in a central area.

Aside from a Champions League fixture at Zenit St Petersburg in December 2021, where he played alongside Ross Barkley in central-midfield, James has always been used as a right-sided centre-back in a three, full-back or wing-back during his time at Chelsea.

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