Sconnie Blue
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The difference between James and Chilwell is that the latter hasn't looked anywhere near his former self whereas when James comes back from injury, he immediately picks up where he left off. Problem we need to solve is to keep him fit, as when fit for a season he puts up TAA numbers whilst also being a rock defensively. He's only 24 and there is enough time for him to mitigate those injuries, ala Kyle Walker.Who is listing him as one of the top fullbacks though? It’s US Chelsea fans. Do you ever watch England now with Walker, Trent and now with Rico Lewis & Livramento, and say England are missing Reece James? He is a very good player but I feel he is one of those like Mbappe & Bellingham that benefits from good PR and has been made out to be better than he is. If you dig deeper into his stats; bar that one season where he outperformed every metrics (same with Chilwell and Mount), he hasn’t really been outstanding. The funny thing is Chilwell has better stats than James, and no one is heralding him as the best LB on the planet.
This isn't a strictly "US Chelsea Fans" train of thought. I find it ironic you say that when England fans are constantly reminded of Reece James every time TAA or Walker put up the occasional defensive stinker.
I really don't care about the number of matches. The point I am showing you is that Kyle Walker had chronic groin issues which made him injury prone up until the age of 24.James has failed to make 19 league games for the last two seasons and I expect he will fail to make 19 this season too. If that is the case, I would want him to go.
Both Carvajal and Walker have only missed half of a league season once in their career. James has done it twice in two years.
James is 24 so it isn't too late for him in the slightest.