Courtesy: X
Enzo Masreca, the Chelsea manager, took a dig at captain Reece James, while providing the latest fitness update on him ahead of their weekend Premier League clash against Newcastle United at the Stamford Bridge on Saturday, October 27. The 44-year-old didn’t shy away from mentioning in the press conference that he and the players expected more from Reece James in terms of captaining the club.
Notably, Reece James made a return to the Chelsea starting lineup for the first-time this season against Liverpool last weekend, which ended in a 2-1 defeat at Anfield. During his first competitive game under Enzo Maresca in-charge, Reece James was substituted just prior to the hour mark after the hosts had taken a 2-1 lead in the contest, which they kept till the very end, to stay on top of the Premier League.
I expected more also in terms of leadership: Enzo Maresca on captain Reece James
During the press conference on Friday, October 26, when Enzo Maresca was asked about the captaincy of Reece James in and around Chelsea players during his time on the shelf, he was quoted as saying, as per ESPN, “He (Reece James) is on the way, he's doing well, he's progressing, but from Reece, I expected more also in terms of leadership.”
Maresca also remarked that apart from him, the Chelsea teammates of Reece James also expected more in the leadership role. He said, “Most of the time when they are captain, they think that because they are captain they have more, 'because I am the captain, I expect that you give me more'. For me, because you are the captain you have to give more. You have to give more than the rest. And sometimes it's, 'OK, I am the captain I can give less', no. He (Reece James) is one of the captains and I expected from him, and his teammates expected from him, to give always more in terms of leadership in general.”
Moreover, Reece James became the captain of Chelsea football club in the summer of 2023 under previous boss Mauricio Pochettino.
