Reece James, heralded as one of the greatest right-backs playing the game and coming up on a year from his promotion to club captain, has had limited playing time the past few seasons due to a recurring hamstring injury. By effect, his reliability has been brought into question and for that reason, Malo Gusto was bought in January of 2023 for €30 million (while staying at Lyon until the end of that season) to lighten James’ workload and provide reliable cover in the position.
However, Gusto has done significantly more than that – so much and reliably so that there have even been murmurings of James’ potential sale. Even considering their ‘pure profit’ stance on academy graduates, that would be drastic for this regime, especially now that James has finally undergone corrective surgery that should have him back and firing on all cylinders. But it does bring up a valid point that we have two extremely capable right-backs in the squad, so how can Enzo Maresca gluttonise on the abundance he’s inherited in that position?
Compared to other right fullbacks, not each other
McLachBot
Considering the lack of minutes James played, it would be inequitable to consider just this past season. It has been some time since we witnessed James at full capacity, like in 2021-22 when he contributed 6 goals and 10 assists in all competitions. Those goals and assists in the Premier League came against the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Leicester (who finished 8th that season), and helped us to a third-place finish. He also contributed in the Champions League against Juventus, helping us to the quarter-finals (and the scarring memories left by them.)
It would also be unfair to compare Gusto to that single, quite outstanding season James had, so this article will largely take into consideration both James’ 2021-22 season as well as 2020-21, and not just because it has a much happier Champions League result, but because it was the season that James played his most minutes/games for us (3,649 minutes in 47 appearances, 33 starts) and only had 1 goal and 5 assists in all competitions – a much more modest output. It will therefore give us a more rounded scope of his Chelsea career, despite not being as recent as we might prefer.
I am also not including multiple seasons for Malo Gusto because they were both spent in a different league and were less productive, with his 9 assists (3 in the FA Cup) in 37 appearances (26 starts) this past year being his most productive. Any of the info I am projecting about Maresca reflects solely what he did at Leicester and not Parma, so assumptions about the formation and personnel are exactly that. Much of what I talk about offensively and defensively (although here hyperspecific to the right-back role) was also broken down tremendously well by Shauryas here, and you should both check that out and bear it in mind while reading this.
In the offensive phases of his 4-3-3, Maresca prefers to have one of his fullbacks drift inward for defensive cover with a single pivot player, simultaneously releasing the other two midfielders to join the attack. It is not entirely dissimilar to what Mauricio Pochettino was doing with Marc Cucurella towards the end of last season, yet it is widely assumed (although not a foregone conclusion) that it will be utilised on our right side in this upcoming season, just as Maresca had done at Leicester with Ricardo Pereira. For several reasons, he might be better suited trying to continue inverting on our left, but considering the overall expectation is that he will do so on the right and this article is about Reece James and Malo Gusto after all, let’s assume he does end up sticking with the right side. Perhaps an article about our left-sided defensive options is in the future, but I digress.
Via inverting his fullback and making these positional shifts which pushes more players forward while isolating our wingers 1v1 against their fullbacks, an offensive overload can be created both centrally or on the flanks (depending on the runs and positioning of those released midfielders.) Additionally, both the centre of the park and the wings have been amply covered defensively to hinder the chances of quick counters by leaving five at the back in the two-man pivot and three-man shifted back line. That means, first and foremost, reading the game well and knowing when to transition roles into and out of midfield is vital for whomever is selected to play right-back. Possession is also of great importance and slow passing across the back line and into that pivot (short to mid-range) to entice an opposition’s press is something we will see plenty of next season, so ball retention and high-accuracy passing are a necessity for the entire team, but even more so for the back line, and likely most of all for our inverted right-back. So, let’s look at passing and receiving statistics.
Passing/Receiving Stats
FBRef
While that might appear as quite the disparity in many columns, we must also consider that Gusto was operating with just less than 3⁄4 (~73%) of the minutes that James was while also playing in a much less established team and with a new head coach, teammates, and tactics. For that reason, the bottom two rows are essentially the most relevant.
Unfortunately for him, Gusto most certainly prefers to play as an overlapping fullback – see his season-long heat map below and note that the light yellow shade on the left is because he also played at left back a few times (including when he got one of his assists against Preston in the FA Cup.) Maresca even talks about why he does not prefer overlapping fullbacks here, so a more traditional role on either side seems largely out of the question, even if, once again, it might be better suited to both James and Gusto.
Yet while Gusto primarily operates from a wide position even when he advances – and he is effective at such a role – he has occasionally been caught making central and mazey runs offensively and seems like he could be fine with that responsibility, as he does below against Crystal Palace. Bear in mind that he is still starting this movement from a wide position, which is not the same as occupying that space in the build-up play, but it does demonstrate that he likely could be capable of it. That theme is going to become recurring when we get to James, too.
Gusto (no. 27) starting wide, coming inside, receiving on the turn, driving forward, following the play, and getting an assist. Forgive the low video quality, there’s a 12 MB upload maximum so the resolution had to be compromised
So we know that Gusto can invert, but it doesn’t appear to be his forte – playing on the wing does. Even if the maps below marking out each of his assists this past season make it seem like he was much more adventurous with his positioning than he was – again, do not forget that he was often deployed at left back – in nearly all of them, his positioning at the start of the movement is near the touchline, much like above against Crystal Palace. A highlight video of him confirms how many of his successful contributions (defensively and offensively) were from near the touchline. That’s no fault of his, it is what he was instructed to be doing, but if his preference were to come inside, he likely would do so more often.
On the other hand, James has done a similar role before. He certainly can be seen drifting centrally while in possession from his wider starting position on occasion under Thomas Tuchel. He even played in that pivot position a few times under Lampard, and there was clamouring for him to permanently switch back into midfield (on this site and elsewhere) during those seasons when we could not keep either N’Golo Kanté or Mateo Kovačić fit. He played in the pivot at Wigan for 13 of the last 16 matches he spent on loan there and also a few times in the 2017-18 season in the PL2. But while he has and certainly can do it, that doesn’t necessarily mean it is his forte either.
He did get two assists and a goal in those 13 matches where he was positioned there at Wigan, and it may even suit his hamstrings better than pancaking up and down the flanks. We simply do not have enough recent evidence to suggest that an inverted role is either something that maximises his potential or is even something of which he is physically capable. Granted that he has started there, but that is not nearly the same as choosing correctly when to frequently transition to and from that position – it only shows some level of comfort being in it naturally. For what it’s worth, here are his metrics in only those last 16 matches at Watford compared to other midfielders.
Notice this is only 1079 of his 4003 total minutes from this season, only the last 16 matches were considered (13 of which were as a CDM)
McLachBot
Through balls and passing accuracy were a concern when he was fielded there, but we know that hasn’t typically been an issue in recent seasons, so take that with a grain of salt. A perplexing side note – if you go to the subsequent season (2019-20), in the few games where James was fielded as a CDM by Lampard (via FBRef or McLachBot), those same passing issues (through balls and general passing accuracy) carried over. That would be a glaring issue for Maresca if it holds true still when he slides forward.
Reece James, 20-21, 21-22, 22-23 heat maps
Sofascore
But James is largely more productive in the same regard as Gusto, with overlapping runs, dominating the entirety of the flank, and crossing some of his best attributes – not to mention arriving at the back post at the opportune time. In an inverted role, only if we are truly overwhelming in both position and possession will James be able to get into the opposition’s box, and in most of those circumstances he would be more central. Once again, a highlight video all but confirms that, for the most part, James produced most from a wide position unless he was crashing the box from an attack generated centrally or from the other side.
His season-long heat maps do demonstrate a willingness to get centrally a bit more than Gusto, but he is still far more concentrated on the flank than in the half-space or centrally. In a moment we will see how expansive Maresca expects our right-back to be.
Leicester’s right-back, Ricardo Pereira, who, like James, was also named captain of his side last season (when Vardy wasn’t playing), was not valued as much for his wide play or offensive nous as he was for being comfortable with passing and with the ball at his feet while also being defensively circumspect, mobile, and reading the opposition’s attack. His passing stats tease on the ridiculous, but we must all bear in mind that anything mentioned about him (or Leicester, for that matter) was against Championship opposition.
Passing/Receiving Stats, Pereira included
FBRef
Notice how much more often and accurately he passed and received than James and Gusto, how many more progressive passes and final third passes he completed, the high accuracy of his long completions compared to the relatively low number of attempts, and his insane emphasis on short passes. In essence, this defines what the offensive aspect of Maresca-ball is all about. Also notice how many fewer progressive passes he received, how fewer crosses or passes into the penalty area he had by conceding the offensive flank, and while doing so he kept up in the number of key passes he played due to his central positioning in the offensive phases opening up more angles and options.
In addition, compare his heat map (below) with the other two (above), perhaps where the most stark contrast lies and corroborating essentially all the other stats just listed about his lack of wide attacking play. Granted, like Gusto, he too played a little left back throughout the season and even started a few matches as a right-sided CDM, but his heat map is still much more encompassing of the entirety of the pitch than our current two right-backs and far less focused on hugging the touchline.
Ricardo Pereira 23-24 season heat map
Sofascore
And so, neither James nor Gusto is a direct replica of Pereira offensively, but James from 2021-2022 is quite a bit closer statistically in regards to passing. He also has the edge in minutes played centrally, regardless of not having to determine when to change between positions. However, as mentioned when introducing Pereira a few paragraphs ago, his acumen in the defensive phases of the game was equally important to his offensive output, so let’s take a look there.
Gusto v Pereira, James v Pereira
McLachBot
In the defensive phase of his game, Maresca plays a high-tempo ‘press’ with man-to-man marking in a collapsed 4-5-1 formation. Their 11.1 PPDA was the third lowest (ie the third highest level of defensive actions, allowing only 11.1 passes per), but I will argue that it wasn’t necessarily to win the ball back high up the pitch and that it happens to be well-suited to this squad and the Premier League in general. Either there was more of an emphasis on getting into an appropriate defensive position rather than actually putting pressure on the ball or Leicester simply were not very good at their press – they fell to 7th in high turnovers for all those ‘defensive actions.’ I would argue that it was more about organising a defensive shape while potentially being able to transition back into attack quickly than anything else because, when you look at the other metrics involved, they jump back up to 4th in shot-ending high turnovers (67) and were top when it came to converting those chances (12). Many of those metrics are quite similar to ours, with the exceptions being getting as many or converting our shot-ending high turnovers.
PPDA comparison
Opta
What is different between the two of us is that, rather than chasing down the ball for a high turnover, they repositioned themselves to cover players and passing angles so that they could win the ball back in the middle third and score while the other team was expecting to transition into offense. Leicester only had 93 tackles in the attacking third (less than our 103, for instance), but had 323 and 349 in the middle and defensive thirds (compared to our 235 and 325, respectively.) The quantity in the defensive third is unsurprising and expected, but to have almost 100 more middle third tackles shows truly where their aggression lay. To boot, they had 337 pass blocks last season (to our 282) and 475 interceptions (to our 398), much because they were playing defense at a similar tempo but in an entirely different manner than we were.
Chelsea are, collectively, good at the high press, less so at our defensive organisation, and so one would think that of the utmost importance will be getting this inversion done seamlessly well. It is the most unique and least traditional aspect of Maresca-ball, after all. If our midfield press is beaten, we will be caught with far too many players up the pitch and can be punished via transition, so the inverted player will be instrumental in determining how exposed we are either in the midfield or on the flank. No metric determines ‘defensive reasoning and proactive positioning’ – what a wonderful thing it would be – but below I have highlighted some of the things that would be most important in that role, as well as some of the passing stats, offered by Squawka. Unfortunately, they removed the ability to compare players between seasons, so all I can offer to you is Reece James from 2023-24, where his lack of minutes ruined his chance of competing.
Defensive Comparison Matrix
Squawka
The fouls from tackle attempts alarm me – he was definitely involved in some tactical fouling last season – as does his yellow cards in the chart below (for some reason Squawka’s card statistics were inaccurate because they claimed neither Reece nor Malo got a yellow or red card last season.) One reason he accumulated so many fouls was exactly that – tactics. Because he came forward from the back line, he was tasked with making those challenges before the play could advance to a more threatening position, and yellow card accumulation was the result. And while he got away with his 10 yellows last season in the Championship with their rule of allowing 10 up to and including the 37th match, that suspension happens at just 5 yellows in 19 matches in the Premier League. He ironically got his fifth yellow last season in his 19th match, so perhaps having both James and Gusto available will be advantageous considering the risk of yellows potentially associated with this position.
Aside from yellow card accumulation, two main (negative) things jump right out in Pereira’s statistics – errors and lost tackles/challenges. FBRef defines errors as mistakes leading to an opponent’s shot – they don’t even necessitate it being on target – so I am questioning their accuracy considering how low James’ and Gusto’s numbers are. They both play relatively solid defensive football, but to have naught or just one shot-causing error between two different players over three different seasons is nigh unfathomable. Now, Pereira losing a lot of challenges and tackles isn’t necessarily a bad thing, firstly because he is not our player. The implication is that he is at least going for the ball and thereby slowing down opposition play, which is obviously something instructed by Maresca. Comparably speaking it is glaringly noticeable how a) both of our players are significantly more clinical in their tackling, even in a more difficult league and b) they might limit said risk of yellow card accumulation considering how well they tackle. Fear not that they also have lower numbers in general than Pereira, that is largely due to James and Gusto keeping positions tighter to the touchline rather than covering both the flank and centre of the pitch.
This is a much tighter call between the two than in the offensive phases, where James has a not overwhelming, but definitive advantage. If James’ defensive qualities from 2021-22 return with him from surgery, very few players from any league would stand a chance at usurping the position. If James’ offensive and defensive qualities from 21-22 return, no other player anywhere stands a chance. But Gusto is no slouch and is actually more aggressive than James’ average and even puts up better numbers in some other categories. Once again, bear in mind that Gusto was playing under more difficult circumstances than 2020-22 James, so while Gusto did tremendously well because our team was so poor for the majority of last season, he was also given more chances to stand out defensively.
There will be many other influential factors – if James’ minutes are being managed well (please let them be), if we play with a league team and a cup team depending on the competition (competition ambiguously meaning both the difficulty of the opponent and the league/tournament), the form of either player and/or the synergy developed with others in the lineup, whether Enzo Fernández or Moisés Caicedo (or Roméo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu, et al.) is playing the other role in that pivot, who is playing the right-sided center-back…the list goes on and this article is long enough.
James is still an elite player, one whom talented wingers have stated has been their most difficult opponent and whom other right-backs have claimed is the culmination of the best qualities for that position. He is a seasoned player at age 24 but has only been available for selection in 26 of the last 101 competitive matches over the last two seasons. Malo Gusto is just 21 years old, only turned 21 in late May, and is putting up comparable and respectable numbers during a record-setting poor season by the club. Maresca has a wonderful problem to sort out in that position.
KTBFFH.
James keeping Gusto at bay, for now
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Source link : https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/features/2024/7/14/24146252/reece-james-and-malo-gusto-the-best-right-back-tandem-in-europe
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Publish date : 2024-07-14 08:04:10
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