“It’s complex, he plays more like a horse” – Tuchel hails Chelsea player
Following Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Newcastle Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has compared Chelsea right wing-back Reece James to a horse after the England international scored twice.
Asked whether James has been putting in the hours training on his shooting, Tuchel initially looked to dish out praise to other players, but then handed an unusual compliment to the wing-back, comparing him to a horse.
Tuchel said: “It’s a complex game and I don’t think Reece can score if Callum [Hudson-Odoi] does do the dribbling and Chilly [Ben Chilwell] opens the space.
“We have Kai [Havertz] attacking the space and then Ruben [Loftus-Cheek]. This is why sometimes our strikers are sacrificing space. We don’t need exercise shooting with Reece, he shoots like a horse.”
Tuchel added: “Reece is allowed to come inside, that’s not a problem.
“All the spaces we want to attack from, we have all the players in the spaces we want to be dangerous. So if there is a winger waiting wide, the wing-back is allowed to attack the half space.
“I think every team does this in this system. We need the wing-backs to arrive in our box to increase the chance of scoring and create goal chances. The first goal, it was brilliant dribbling from Callum on the left side.
Ruben arrived, Kai was in the box, and this is what it takes in the end to have a rebound and a chance for a goal.
“Reece took it brilliantly.”