{"id":574962,"date":"2020-12-19T17:32:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T22:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=574962"},"modified":"2020-12-19T17:32:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T22:32:16","slug":"chelsea-reece-james-major-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/12\/19\/chelsea-reece-james-major-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Chelsea Defender Reece James Suffers Major Knee Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reece James<\/a> has had an incredible start to the season, establishing himself as the clear first-choice right-back at Chelsea<\/a>. However, surgery may unfortunately derail his brilliant form. According to The Athletic<\/a>, James went for a scan on his knee on Saturday and there are worrying signs for the young Englishman.<\/p>\n

Chelsea Suffer Injury Blow as Reece James Prepares to Undergo Surgery<\/h2>\n

Breakthrough Season for Reece James<\/h3>\n

While he did get significant game time last season, he hadn’t established himself as a clear starter. Of course, it was only a matter of time, and this season he has taken that next step.<\/p>\n

Jumping ahead of captain Cesar Azpilicueta<\/a> in the queue, Reece James is clearly Chelsea’s best right-back, and in fact, one of their best players.<\/p>\n

Forming a partnership with Kurt Zouma<\/a>, Thiago Silva<\/a> and Ben Chilwell<\/a> at the back, along with Edouard Mendy<\/a> in goal, the defence has looked much better than last season.<\/p>\n

Silva bringing the leadership and composure, and Zouma brings the strength and aerial presence. The fullbacks James and Chilwell have also provided defensive solidity as well as positive attacking play.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old is incredibly strong, and he never backs down from a fight. This type of mentality has already won over the Chelsea support, without even mentioning his incredible, pinpoint crossing.<\/p>\n

He has already become a fan-favourite, and needless to say any sort of major injury to Reece James will be a major blow to manager Frank Lampard<\/a> and the entire Chelsea team.<\/p>\n

Solid Like-for-Like Replacement<\/h3>\n

The only silver lining to a James injury would be that the Blues have a first-team quality replacement for him. Azpilicueta is still reliable as ever, and fully capable of starting for Chelsea.<\/p>\n

While he doesn’t have James’s crossing, strength or pace, his defensive solidity makes up for it.<\/p>\n

Last season, Azpilicueta was starting in most matches against the big teams, whereas James would play against weaker teams.<\/p>\n

This was no doubt due to James’s attacking talent being more useful against deep blocks, while the skipper continues to be very dependable at the back.<\/p>\n

Conversely, if the injury were to happen to Chilwell, Chelsea would not have a reliable option to cover the left-back position, so at least Lampard has someone to cover James in case of a potential absence. However, he, as well as every single Chelsea fan, will be hoping it doesn’t come to that.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>