Heading into this season, the one wish that Chelsea fans would have had was for Reece James to be fit. Talent-wise, he is the best player at Chelsea by a country mile, but unfortunately, injuries have plagued his career to this point.
Which is a real shame. It doesn't take a genius to point at Reece James and say, 'that's the best full-back in the world right there.'
Nevertheless, it took one completely unexpected manager to bring the best out of Reece James; Enzo Maresca. The Italian gaffer has done everything in his power accelerate Reece James' career, and he's achieving exactly that.
Admittedly, though, it's come in a way that Chelsea fans wouldn't have chosen.
Enzo Maresca was 100 per cent right about Reece James
Enzo Maresca was fairly persistent at the start of this season that he would not overwork Reece James. Despite calls from Chelsea fans that he needs to be starting more consistently than he was, Maresca stuck to the plan, and Reece James has benefited.
As of gameweek 15 in the Premier League, Reece James has only started 10 games. He came off the bench on four other occasions. So, James is being used sparingly by Enzo Maresca and as much as it would pain any Chelsea fan to admit, this is the way forward.
Reece James will have big plans to add to what has been an already fruitful career. Having won the Champions League once and the Club World Cup twice, he knows a thing or two about achieving success beyond England.
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So much so, he'll have one eye on making the trip to Canada, Mexico and the USA for next year's World Cup. At this point, it's pretty difficult to nominate any English full-back in better standing than him.
The bare minimum that Reece James must provide to former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel to make the trip is his fitness and availability. So, the last thing Enzo Maresca should do is get excited by his good form and go back to overworking him, like Chelsea managers of the past had done.
Right now, Reece James is in a pretty good place. He is working alongside the two best coaches he's ever had, Enzo Maresca and Thomas Tuchel. Long may that continue.
To cut a long story short, Enzo Maresca was 100 per cent right to use Reece James in the team sparingly. It was annoying at first, but it's safe to say he's been vindicated now.