“The biggest thing…” – Reece James on what he learned as a child that made him so good | OneFootball

Reece James’ upbringing, with a dad who was a pro coach and two siblings who played football, helped a lot with his development.

Chelsea have a midweek off right now, and that’s meant a chance for some more long form content from the club for us to enjoy.

Reece James has a really interesting long form interview with the website today, where he spoke a little about what it was like growing up in a football mad house – his dad was a coach, his older brother and younger sister both played.

James on growing up in a football family

Reece and Lauren James playing football as youngsters.

“There were various challenges he set out when I was a kid, to keep my competitive side going. And we would compete against each other,” James said of his early years.

“One of the biggest things that helped me was my older brother. After his games my dad would always talk and tell him ‘you need to do this, you can do this better’, so he was getting the downlow from the game and I’m there listening, he’s making mistakes and I’m there thinking ‘let me try not to do that.'”

James’ brother stopped playing football, but of course his sister Lauren has become one of England’s star players. She had the benefit of not just one, but two older brothers whose mistakes she could learn from.

Just imagine how good the likes of Thiago Silva’s younger son could be…

In other news…

Liam Rosenior’s bond with his players is becoming clear, and in particular his bond with Andrey Santos is notable.

Christian Pulisic has been linked with a return to the Premier League, and some pundits are saying Chelsea could regret selling him.

Check out the latest edition of Simon Phillips’ SPTC podcast here: