Four candidates to be Chief Creator for Chelsea this season

2. Reece James (No. 24) Right wingback, England

James has put up impressive shot creation and goal creation numbers since the beginning of last season. He averaged 3.81 Shot-Creating Actions per 90 and 0.53 Goal-Creating Actions per 90. This is very good for a fullback/wingback. He ranked second for chances created (47) and ranked first for chances created per 90 (2.27) amongst players who played up play to 1000 minutes. He ranked second for big chances created (9), and third for big chances created per 90 (0.43). He had nine assists from 5.7 expected assists (xA). He was one of Chelsea’s major sources of quality chances last season, especially with his superb crossing.

This season he has ranked third for Shot-Creating Actions (12) for the Blues and has ranked second for Shot-Creating Actions per 90 (2.4) for players that have played up to 200 league minutes. Unfortunately, his goal creation has been nothing to write home about, which should be obvious watching the Blues play. He has created six chances, ranking third, as well as ranking second for big chances created (2). These numbers in and of themselves aren’t dazzling, but when you consider that they’re better than many of his colleagues, you see why he’s one of the candidates for Chief Creator.