Chelsea and England defender Reece James disclosed that he prefers playing as a wing-back. Reece is a very versatile player and can play as a right wing-back, defensive midfielder, right back, or central defender and was recently deployed as left back by Gareth Southgate in England Nations League encounter with Hungary.
Considered as one of the best right back in the Premier League. Thomas Tuchel was quoted saying he would love to have more Reece James in the Chelsea squad because of his versatility and work rate.
Reece James spend a major part of last season injured. His injury was a very big blow to Chelsea and was one of the factors that affected their chances of winning the Premier League after had Chelsea started the Premier League so well and was on top of the Premier League table until November.
What did Reece James say regarding his preferred position?
In an interview with Chelsea’s official website, The 22-year-old England international side: “I don’t really look or listen to any of that,’ he said of the talk about his best position.
“Wherever I’m asked to play, I’ll do my best and try to help the team as much as I can.
“I personally prefer to play wing-back out of the two positions but Thomas is the manager and I’m the player so wherever I’m required to play, I’ll always play.
“I’ve played several positions before and I’m used to it now so it’s just about adapting on the day.”
Reece James shared his excitement about joining Chelsea on a pre-season tour in the US.
The US tour is Reece James’ second pre-season tour in the US with Chelsea as a first-team player after missing the Japan tour in 2019 and last season’s Dublin tour due to his participation in the Euro 2020.
The Chelsea right-back added: “It’s nice to be out here having pre-season in America.
“For the first few days, we’ve been training and just preparing for the new season really.
“I didn’t go to Japan [in 2019] because I was injured and then last year I didn’t go to Dublin because we were at the Euros so this is sort of my first proper pre-season tour.
“Pre-season is obviously an important time to get fit and it helps a lot, preparing right for the new season. We know there’s going to be a stoppage halfway through for the World Cup and it’s going to be a bit different with a lot more games so we need to prepare right.”
He continued: “I came to Boston a few years ago before with Chelsea on a post-season trip but haven’t been to America apart from that.
“I’ve loved it so far and we’ve had a little bit of time to go out and explore.
“But our job is to play football and matches are the most important thing for us so just to get back into the swing of things and get those first minutes under our belt has been really good.”
Reece James played 45 minutes in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Club America, assisting Mason Mount’s winner and scoring a bizarre own goal.