Chelsea have been seeing a lot more of Reece James than they’re used to – and while it’s still early, it could be cause for celebration.
The Blues’ captain has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025-26 season. Not only has he been playing well shifting back and forth from right-back to centre-midfielder, but has also spent more time on the pitch.
Fans will still show concern for him and fear injuries, but these have been a rather encouraging first three months of the new campaign.
Why should Chelsea fans be encouraged by Reece James’ load management this season?
Reece James’ recent durability
Enzo Maresca has rotated the Chelsea squad a lot this year. Reece James has benefitted massively from this – while not missing out on the important games.
The versatile right-back started all three of the Blues’ matches against fellow ‘Big Six’ sides (Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham). He was also in the starting line-up vs Bayern Munich and the Fifa Club World Cup final vs PSG back in July.
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All of this has led to him playing the full 90 minutes in seven games this season, already matching his total from 2024-25.
Not only has Maresca had his captain available more often, but also able to play the whole match much more frequently.
Key stat:
- Full 90 minutes played in 2025-26: 7/14 games
- Full 90 minutes played in 2024-25: 7/32 games
Healthy at last?
Chelsea fans will never feel safe from injuries – especially when it comes to Reece James. However, recent signs are nothing but positive.
Considering that his withdrawals from the England squad in the October international break and the CWC quarter final vs Palmeiras were both deemed ‘precautionary’, this could be the first full calendar year of his senior career without a major injury.
He also missed a home match against Leicester City back in March, but it was due to illness. This means that his last actual setback came in November – December 2024, a hamstring issue (which has been the main concern for him in the past few years) that kept him out of action for around five weeks.
Key stats:
- 2025: 0 major injuries (so far)
- 2024: 2 major injuries
- 2023: 5 major injuries
- 2022: 5 major injuries
- 2021: 1 major injury
- 2020: 4 major injuries
- 2019: 2 major injuries
*Reece James made his professional debut in August 2018 during his loan spell at Wigan Athletic. His first full year as a senior player was 2019.
Next steps
Current England boss Thomas Tuchel has worked closely with Reece James before, during his tenure as Chelsea manager between 2021 and 2022.
The 25-year-old played the full Serbia game, which had Blues’ fans fearing an injury. A lot of them were begging Tuchel on social media to take him off. Having him overlapping for 90 minutes was ‘too risky’ and ‘potentially destroying Maresca’s load management of the right-back’.
But that probably means he will come off the bench vs Albania – or play fewer minutes in case of another start. It’s also hard to fault Tuchel as well, seeing as he needs to strengthen what he sees as England’s main starting unit and clearly sees Reece James in it. He needs rhythm.
And considering Enzo Maresca’s squad rotations, chances are James won’t start immediately after the international break. Despite a six-day difference between the Albania (16th) and Burnley (22nd) games, Chelsea will host Barcelona three days after their trip to Turf Moor.
Since he’s been present in all the “big” games this season, the trend is likely to continue. In addition, he has yet to start three consecutive Chelsea matches in 2025-26.
Hopefully this healthy run will continue for Reece James, one of the most complete and versatile full-backs in the world, capable of performing a number of roles within the same position. Both Chelsea and England could benefit greatly from that.