Chelsea: Reece James explains how injury woes under Thomas Tuchel helped him 'grow' as captain

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·11 de novembro de 2025

Chelsea: Reece James explains how injury woes under Thomas Tuchel helped him 'grow' as captain

Fit-again full-back is relishing his reunion with the German

Reece James has admitted that leading Chelsea when he was out injured was the “hardest thing”, but says he is “growing as a captain” now he is fit.

James is fit and firing this season for Enzo Maresca’s third-place Blues after years of injury setbacks and has emerged as a key player for England during Tuchel’s reign.

The 25-year-old’s first silverware with Chelsea came under the German’s tutelage, when he won the Champions League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup all in the summer of 2021.

Vídeos OneFootball

Now the German has made it clear James is his first-choice right-back by selecting him for every camp, though he pulled out last month through injury.

“To come back into the set-up since he’s become manager has been good,” the right-back said. “I’ve been back playing for England and playing consistently for Chelsea.

“We have a good relationship. We had a decent period together at Chelsea, won a few trophies, and I enjoy playing with him.

“There are good managers and good people, and he ticks both boxes. I’m super happy working with him and happy to play for him.

“I think I know what I bring. There are many experienced players here, there are a lot of young players. I think the stronger we are as a group, the easier it is.

“The key to achieving what we want and getting success is having the group’s togetherness — it’s not one person’s leadership.”

Ahead of England’s final World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, James said: “Competition is key to going close to winning things. They need to keep players on their toes with everyone hungry and fire in their belly to want to win.

“For me, the hardest thing for me was to lead when I wasn’t playing. But now I’ve been playing on a regular basis for a decent period. I’ve found it a lot easier while playing regularly to grow as a captain and coming here. I try to learn from other captains and more experienced players.

“At Chelsea, I’m one of the oldest. Here, I’m not one of the oldest. I still have lots of learning and growing and helping the younger players and learning off the more experienced ones here.”

England will face sweltering conditions at next summer’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States but James experienced the American summer heat with Chelsea on their victorious Club World Cup campaign. He said Maresca’s aggressive pressing approach in the final against Paris Saint-Germain did not surprise him despite the testing conditions.

“I think when you’re in the final, playing against the European champions, you don’t really have time to sit off and let them have the ball. You need to go after them.

“Tournament football probably hasn’t gone the way I would have dreamt it would go, but that’s in the past. We’re looking forward. I’m feeling good. I’m playing relatively well at the moment and I’m focused on staying healthy and performing week in, week out until the summer.”