Chelsea star gets poor ratings – but it’s really not his fault | OneFootball

After his first call up, we were really hoping to see Trevoh Chalobah make his England debut against Andorra over the weekend, but he didn’t get off the bench.

Instead we got to see Noni Madueke – who did well, picking up an assist and the man of the match award, and Reece James.

James struggles out of position against deep block Andorra

When called up for Thomas Tuchel’s first squad, we heard the England boss say that he intended to use James as a full back, as he had at Chelsea, rather than as a midfielder as we’ve seen fairly often this season.

After a drab performance against the minnows, the media weren’t happy that Tuchel had gone back on his word:

“Just 24 hours after James said his best position was right-back, Thomas Tuchel played him at left-back. He did not look that comfortable. He also produced a terrible delivery at a free-kick near the end,” the Sun wrote, giving James a 4/10.

“The Chelsea ace has played most of his football at right-back, and on occasion in midfield this season, but wasn’t tested at all at left-back. There were no free-kick heroics this time,” read Goal.com’s thoughts, as they handed out a 5/10.

Some of the better ratings

The Evening Standard were a little more generous, handing James a 6/10 for his showing on the left:

“Asked to play in the less familiar left-back position but fulfilled the task well,” they wrote.

“Released Madueke with one excellent, incisive pass. Struck a poor direct free-kick which flew miles over late on.”

The Daily Mail also went with 6/10: “Started at left back in an experimental line-up from Tuchel which didn’t pay dividends in the first half, but the faith in the same XI was rewarded after half-time, thankfully for Tuchel.”

Let’s hope injuries and player returning mean Tuchel can return to his word and put James on the right in the next international break.