It's hard to properly compare, but in the three matches before Reece James was injured Chelsea won all three, scored seven and conceded just one. Nine points, a Champions League and Premier League revival under Graham Potter had started, the world was a good place.
After James' second-half injury against AC Milan at San Siro, things have slightly changed. The Blues have won one of their three without him and drawn the other two. They scored three goals and conceded one in that time, without Kepa Arrizabalaga's help it might have been much worse. Having been worthy winners in two of the three with James - Crystal Palace were good value for a point - they have hardly deserved to win one of the next three.
It's a small sample size, but with Brighton, Arsenal and Newcastle as the remaining league fixtures before the winter World Cup break, the feeling may have changed slightly from Neo and Morpheus asking each other to bring it on. Now it's more a case of, get through these unscathed and Chelsea might have done well.
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It's hard to be thinking of taking the game to table-toppers Arsenal when the fear of being done in the vacant James sized hole is so big. That doesn't even mean that there's a physical gap there, but James' very aura has forced Wilfried Zaha and Rafael Leao to opposing wings. His strength stops players before their technical ability falls short of bypassing this freak of nature.
Part of Potter's predicament are problems he has inherited. The midfield issue is glaring and doesn't get any easier with the injury to James, fitness of Mateo Kovacic and seemingly eternal absence of N'Golo Kante. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is a great addition but, as Thomas Tuchel discovered, isn't natural in a double-pivot, especially not with Jorginho.
Loftus-Cheek is also the best fit at wingback in terms of profiling James' physical and technical threat. The balance that James brings Chelsea is only comparable to certain players at other teams, it goes beyond the plane of losing a good player. Manchester City without Kevin De Bruyne don't have structural issues, Liverpool minus Virgil van Dijk are worse off but have suitable options to replace him.
Reece James is so unique as a footballer that it's almost unfair. Very few players have the attacking threat and defensive awareness in one body. The technical ability to shove someone off the ball in a grotesque manor but trap a ball on the turn doesn't come naturally to many. Very few can do it and therefore very few act as such a fulcrum to their team.
Without James, Potter is already seeing the issues that Tuchel had last season. The German decided to stick with his guns and use Cesar Azpilicueta at wingback. The Chelsea captain doesn't have the strength, speed, touch or solidity to make up for any part of losing James. For £7m he is one of the best ever buys, but right now his shortcomings are much more evident than any tangible offerings, and it's causing an issue.
You either suffer the blow of playing Azpilicueta in a position where he struggles and take it on the chin or try and find a way around it. Whilst looking for ways to get over James, you suffer elsewhere. Move the plaster from one place to another and nothing truly gets solved.
In James' final match before injury he controlled the AC Milan home tie from wingback. He had 100 touches, more than anyone on the pitch. He played the second most key passes, scored and assisted. Against Manchester United Azpilicueta had just 63 touches. He made no key passes, completed just 75% of the 44 he tried and failed with one cross. Defensively he was suspect.
These aren't new issues, James being better and more valuable to Chelsea than their captain isn't a revelation. Potter has ended up in the same spot Frank Lampard and Tuchel have, Gareth Southgate similarly. There is no replacement, there's makeshifts and stop-gaps, but there is no other Reece James.
In world football there aren't many players that are so inescapably important to the success of their team. Ederson in this world is perhaps more unique to Manchester City than De Bruyne, but can a goalkeeper be more irreplaceable than an outfield player? Harry Kane is such a brilliant creator at Tottenham that his role is deeply ingrained.
It has always been Kante that was Chelsea's Kylian Mbappe and Mohamed Salah. He was their irreplaceable presence, the one that does things others can't. So Tuchel said, but really, James is the next most unique player to the team. He offers skills and options simply unavailable when he doesn't play, and it costs Chelsea dearly.
James is the world class talent that ignites those around him to play with confidence they may not have previously had. His ability to get forward, invite opponents to try and exploit him in behind and then take advantage of the space allowed in front is something nobody else can bring.
Chelsea don't have and can't create a replacement for James. It's more than losing Mbappe, Salah, De Bruyne or Van Dijk. It's above that parapet and Potter can try all he wants, but there isn't a substitute. The quicker James returns the better.
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