Reece James

I think he needs to reduce a bit some of his weight/muscular mass for preventing injuries in the future. He's a top talent from RB in this generation. It would be so unfortunate if he couldn't reach his maximum potential.
 
Think his future lies at RCB or as a DM.
DM would be better. His attributes are wasted as a CB though he could drop there in the latter stages of his career. He has the strength to compete and he would score bangers like Juliano Belletti
 
We're trying to find reasons but some guys are just injury prone as feck and there's nothing you can do about it. Playing CB didn't help Phil Jones! Have to remember that a lot of the physical work is also on the training pitch, in the gym, not just matchdays. Tough sport if you pick up muscular injuries easily, the whole nature of football is a massive physical grind with very little breaks. You don't just peak for events, you're always peaking.
 
I'm no expert, but he seems really muscular- more so than most CF's and CB's. I'd imagine that being a powerfully built dude who has to cover an awful lot of ground as a RB must do is a recipe for injuries. It's a relentless position.

I honestly think he’d be better moving to a position that requires less running and less bursts of sprinting. Obviously he’s played at CB a fair bit but I’d love to see a really great coach try to convert him to a CDM.
 
He looks naturally heavy set. I don’t think you can change that very easily. His sister looks the same.
He’ll probably be one of those players that suffers from regular muscular injuries.
I think he’ll just have to deal with that going forward (and so will any club that employs him).
He is a great player when fit though.
 
My hope is things will get a little better when Gusto arrives and the club can manage James' match and training loads better. Will make it easier to rest James on occasion and whenever he does get injured there's less need to rush him back into fitness, which can only help things in the long run. Assuming Gusto is a decent player and not a total bust, of course.

James has always been prone to the occasional injury but prior to this season he's still been averaging +40 club games a season across all competitions but now he won't even make it to 25. Would take a long hard look at the club's physio and medical departments because it's not just James who's been having a ridiculous time with injuries this season. With one player it can just be bad luck but when the same thing happens to multiple players I can't help but think they're being mistreated by the physios or the club doctors?
 
I want to see what happens with DCL first but Dyche has taken an approach with him where although he’s been ‘fit’ for a couple of weeks now, he’s tried to get him to maximum fitness levels before bringing him back into the side. We have been massively guilty of rushing him back, as have chelsea with James. Is it worth possibly trying that? I suppose preseason makes that possible for you.
 
It's cool that him and his sister have made it as top flight footballers. You hear about the brother-brother combo, but you rarely hear about the brother-sister combo where both of them are so good.
 
It's cool that him and his sister have made it as top flight footballers. You hear about the brother-brother combo, but you rarely hear about the brother-sister combo where both of them are so good.
The Neville's have a successful netball sister. I'm pretty sure the James' dad was a pro footballer also? Could be wrong.
 
The Neville's have a successful netball sister. I'm pretty sure the James' dad was a pro footballer also? Could be wrong.

Nigel James is a top youth coach but don't think he had a pro career of his own.
 
Ive had arguments on here years ago saying AWB > James but feck me the simply fact someone is available is better than having James as your RB.
At what point do you sign a top class RB and have James as the deputy? Simply down to the fact having a reserved RB behind James means you have a sub standard RB playing 70 percent of your games
 
Ive had arguments on here years ago saying AWB > James but feck me the simply fact someone is available is better than having James as your RB.
At what point do you sign a top class RB and have James as the deputy? Simply down to the fact having a reserved RB behind James means you have a sub standard RB playing 70 percent of your games
They've invested in Gusto so suspect he will grow into that backup role stepping in whenever James in injured.

James is class, such a shame he's made of glass.
 
Not sure why he was given the captaincy, his injury record is atrocious. He needs to look at his body composition, he's almost a bit too bulky, maybe he needs to lose some muscle mass.
 
His body type just doesn’t appear to be conducive to the position he plays. Being built like an NFL player whilst being asked to bomb up and down the flanks is clearly murder on the hamstrings.

I hope it’s not a bad one again. Thank feck we bought Gusto when we did.
 
This is the reason why we signed Malo Gusto.
 
His body type just doesn’t appear to be conducive to the position he plays. Being built like an NFL player whilst being asked to bomb up and down the flanks is clearly murder on the hamstrings.

Reminds me of Oxlade-Chamberlain in that sense, albeit different position but similar all-action style.
 
Calm down, the poster just said he may need to lose some muscle mass. It's hardly victim blaming.

He needs to look at his body composition, he's almost a bit too bulky, maybe he needs to lose some muscle mass.

Looks pretty blamey to me. That's ignoring the nonsense about him somehow being an unsuitable captain.

I stand by what I said
 
While a lot of it is bad luck, there is something in a way a player plays has an impact on his injury record. Both Jack Wilshere and Phil Jones would go flying full speed into tackles when they were younger, it's no coincidence that they got some injuries.
 
Both Chelsea’s captain and vice-captain are injury prone. They need a vice-vice and vice-vice-vice captain as well.
 
He'll get sympathy but Martial will get dogs abuse for very same reason.
 
If you're Chelsea you need to get rid ASAP. This is clearly going to be his career.
 
While a lot of it is bad luck, there is something in a way a player plays has an impact on his injury record. Both Jack Wilshere and Phil Jones would go flying full speed into tackles when they were younger, it's no coincidence that they got some injuries.

Many players fly into tackles and aren't injury prone.
 
Many players fly into tackles and aren't injury prone.
Wilshere took way too long to accept it and adapt his game.By then it was too late and his body had taken too much.
James could go the same route if he doesn't find a way to correct the issue. His injuries don't seem to come from hard impacts so it will be harder to pinpoint the cause.
 
Wear, tear, ligaments issues. At the very high level you'd expect these clubs to have the very best physios to hand. What they're doing obviously isn't working, his training and prep is going to have to change even more so now.
 
I presume he means you need your captain to be available to play in the majority of the matches your teams play. Which seems reasonable.

They'll just promote the vice-captain or whoever is next in line. But the captain of the squad is usually selected on longevity and standing amongst his peers. With Azpi leaving and the overall turmoil in the team, I can't think of another player with the credentials needed. Maybe Thiago.

Neville was captain for us during his "back in 2 weeks" phase, no one blinked, we just gave the band to Rio and kept it pushing.