Reece James

Thought he had one of his worst games for us last night. The way he watched the ball for Porto’s goal, he also got caught out by Porto a couple of times. He need to step it up another level, if he plays like this against Neymar and Mbappe we are in trouble.
Big trouble 

 
average game last night. Offside three times was it? And could have been in trouble for pushing a porto player, but young players have off games.

 
Thought he had one of his worst games for us last night. The way he watched the ball for Porto’s goal, he also got caught out by Porto a couple of times. He need to step it up another level, if he plays like this against Neymar and Mbappe we are in trouble.
He was okay.. could have done better in the offensive part.. but made quite a few crucial defensive headed clearances and generally no one got past him.. He could not have done anything for the goal.. having said that he can be more aggressive in his defensive approach which will come as he develops greater sense.. i am sure at age group levels his physicality meant that he got away with it sometimes... remember this is only his second full season.. 

infact the other wing Chilly made a couple of errors that could have cost us  losing the ball in dangerous positions and letting the attacker get goal side of him..

 
Thought he did alright last night personally. 
Just shows how we all look at a game differently. I too thought he did ok with his defending, the goal he couldn't have done anything about and generally his positioning and strength were good. Attacking wise he wasn't totally at it , though that could be said of the team who concentrated more on not conceding than adding to the total.

 
You guys know that if a player does a bicycle kick its because the ball is behind him right ? Reece was in front of the guy just a tad to left but it wouldnt matter because Tamari sent his bicycle kick to the far right corner...not much he could have done there. To me he was alright not his best game but its not like Porto were passing by him on every occasion or singled him out. Its also hard to look good also when your fowards can't hold the ball up or keep getting fouled so he can't really go foward,  he's one of the only player on this team who shows character and is not shy to demand respect from the other team, i wish we had more players with his character.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Only player that shows character on this team? What makes you say that? I think almost if not the whole team showed a lot of character yesterday - otherwise I doubt very much we'd advanced. Pulisic showed a lot of character. They all took on the fight Porto was offering.

He was undoubtedly one of the reasons Porto didn't really have much clear chances to actually score over two legs. That said, he did have his moments were he looked a tad sloppy and gave balls / situations away way too easily. Same as Chilwell. So that was indeed one of the reasons we didn't get much substantial control over the game.

 
It is obvious that reece isn't wb. If you want Reece to do well as wb, our ram/rw need to be somebody like willian

 
The lad is 21 so therefore of course he isn't an accomplished Wingback as yet not to forget he played in a Champions League QF last night, some of the criticism seems overly harsh especially considering we progressed fairly comfortably and would've had a clean sheet had it not been for a last minute wonder goal.

 
Only player that shows character on this team? What makes you say that? I think almost if not the whole team showed a lot of character yesterday - otherwise I doubt very much we'd advanced. Pulisic showed a lot of character. They all took on the fight Porto was offering.

He was undoubtedly one of the reasons Porto didn't really have much clear chances to actually score over two legs. That said, he did have his moments were he looked a tad sloppy and gave balls / situations away way too easily. Same as Chilwell. So that was indeed one of the reasons we didn't get much substantial control over the game.
I meant showing character on this outside, obviously the whole team showed a bit of it, even Kai pushed Pepe after the elbow on him and i was suprised about that, didnt think he had that in him, thats more what i meant. a bit of dont mess with me/us wich i think its something that is missing a bit in this team.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You certainly wouldn't want to Row with Reece, he's a beast in the Essien mould, he stands up for himself beautifully...

 
I like Reece. He's strong, fast, and looks like a beast; but he got a lot of learning and growing up to do. 

But he's 21, let's see how he plays when he's 24-26 years old.

 
I like Reece. He's strong, fast, and looks like a beast; but he got a lot of learning and growing up to do. 

But he's 21, let's see how he plays when he's 24-26 years old.
I wouldn't describe him as fast, he's not very quick at all actually. I think his reaction times need to improve a bit as well, mainly when he is on the ball. I think he has improved a fair bit defensively this season though.

 
The yellow card that he got today was just amazingly silly, looked like Dean just wanted some camera shots at himself or something because that was a clean tackle. In some years when James makes a name for himself the ref won't blow the whistle there at all, just goes to show why it was basically just Howard Webb at the last few World Cups and no other English refs, people like Mike Dean need to retire he ruins the game and takes so much space that a proper ref can't even get a chance.

 
I think he’s very promising indeed, with 1) age, 2) physique and 3) great delivery being his key attributes for me. He’s far from perfect and does make mistakes but I think that can be put down to 1). As for his best position, it’s open to debate. 3) is surely a strong argument for him playing as a wing back, while 2) perhaps favours RCB or DCM? Seems he doesn’t use 2) as well as he might though, which may also come down to 1). Overly simple assessment?

 
Two years ago tonight Reece was playing for Wigan against Millwall in a Championship dead rubber.* Tonight he won a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

_106787955_reecejames.jpg


*As it was the final game of the season, and Reece had been that good, Paul Cook made him honorary captain for the night.

 
Apart from switching off and letting Sterling getting a run on him for the goal he was superb! 

 
  • Like
Reactions: Oli
Back
Top