Chelsea star Reece James has been told he is better than Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold by former Tottenham striker Darren Bent. The two England international stars continue to be compared as they battle for a starting space in the international team under Gareth Southgate.
James is off the back of an impressive, but disrupted, season for the Blues in their first full season under Thomas Tuchel. Injury condemned the defender to missing 19 games across all competitions and it proved a problem for the Blues, who slipped away from the title race in his absence.
In total, he made 39 appearances last campaign, managing 16 goal involvements in that time too. It wasn't just the traditional right-back position he played either though, with Tuchel also looking to play him on the right as a centre-back in a back three.
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It led to the manager claiming that he wishes he could clone James to be able to play him in both positions: "I would love to have two of Reece James, that would solve the problem, it’s like 50% towards wing-back and 45% towards the back three. It [where he plays] depends a little bit on how the opponent plays against us. Do we expect a lot of possession, how is their structure for their offensive transition?
"For this it can sometimes be helpful for Reece to play in the back three and be the first guy to cover in the transition and to not be involved in the attack. We have his speed and physicality in the protection of the opponents counter-attack. ‘I’m a bit more into that his very best position is the wing-back position where he is perhaps even more decisive, more useful but it is more demanding."
With a new season upon us, old debates are relit, with the main one being between Alexander-Arnold and James and who is better than the other. The former had a particularly tough time against Manchester United, with Liverpool losing 2-1 as his flank continued to be targeted.
His difficulties have led to Darren Bent making a huge claim about his ability, telling TalkSPORT: "Trent Alexander-Arnold, my goodness! Wow. People will keep banging that drum saying he’s better than James and Walker. Absolutely not.
“Offensively, I’ll give it to him. His range of passing, his distribution… but when you think of his distribution, it’s not that much better than James. Then look what James can do to certain wide players. Look what he did to Heung-min Son.
“Out of them three, Alexander-Arnold is the worst. Last night, it was almost like Man United picked on him. They picked on him down the left side.”
It's a huge statement from the former Premier League striker, but after just three games in the season, it remains to be seen how the two full-backs kick on as the games continue to come.
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