Chelsea boss expects more from his club captain Recce James in terms of his leadership and command on the pitch.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has increased his expectations on club captain Recce James. The Italian says that he “expects more” from his captain in terms of leadership.
James made his comeback from a chronic hamstring ailment during last Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool. It was the season’s first appearance for the right-back. James not only instantly returned to the starting lineup, but he also took back the captain’s armband from Enzo Fernández. Despite putting on a respectable performance at Anfield, the 24-year-old’s manager was obviously not impressed with his absence.
“He is on the way, he’s doing well, he’s progressing, but from Reece I expected more also in terms of leadership,” Maresca said when asked how James managed his role as club captain while not playing. “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’s 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.”
As he recovers, James missed Chelsea’s Conference League victory over Panathinaikos on Thursday. However, he is anticipated to play against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Maresca was eager to emphasise that, in his view, there are other people who could be doing more to inspire those around him, both on and off the pitch.
“He [James] is a reserved guy, but not only him,” Maresca continued. “I think we don’t have a proper leader. We don’t have those guys. Probably Tosin [Adarabioyo] is one of the guys that is. So the rest we need to build them.”