The incoming arrival of Enzo Maresca as Chelsea head coach could potentially result in a key change when it comes to Reece James and Malo Gusto’s game. Such key players in the Chelsea side, James unfortunately had a season to forget with injury restricting him to only 11 appearances in all competitions.
Making his comeback off the bench in the 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest in May, the 24-year-old demonstrated to everyone exactly what he can offer only three minutes into his return with a sumptuous cross that Nicolas Jackson headed home. Having to settle for more minutes off the bench in their following game away at Brighton & Hove Albion, the England international
Having already sat out the final match of the 2023/24 season against Bournemouth, James will be absent for the first three games of Maresca’s Chelsea tenure. Once he is available again, Maresca could potentially look to use a tactic on the Blues academy graduate or fellow right-back Gusto that worked so well during his time as Leicester City boss.
Lining up with a back four, Maresca transformed Ricardo Pereira into a right-back-turned-central midfielder. Rather than just staying in his usual position down the right, the Portuguese star would always come into the middle of the park when Leicester were in possession of the ball.
Pereira excelled in his new role and proved to be a key figure in their successful Premier League promotion push. Speaking to Marca about his positional change, the Leicester defender, who also claimed that Maresca is the “best coach” he’s had, said: “Throughout my career I have played almost everything. I love challenges. Now I play a lot inside. I’m almost a defensive midfielder in attack and I like it because I have a lot of ball and I can play fast, with one or two touches.”
The use of inverted full-backs is a regular sight in the Premier League with a number of teams operating this way. Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is perhaps one of the best examples as he initially started out as an overlapping right-back before gradually moving more inside.
