Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JAMES: TOUGH START BECAME BLUES HEAVEN
REECE JAMES has admitted even Chelsea’s players can hardly believe the way their season has turned out.
Chelsea are in the semi-finals of the Champions League, face Manchester City in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday and are still in the hunt for a top-four place in the Premier League.
It has been a turbulent season, which saw Frank Lampard axed in January and replaced with Thomas Tuchel, but their form in the past three months has rejuvenated their campaign.
Blues defender James has played a key role this season and they have kept 13 clean sheets under new boss Tuchel (below), becoming a tough side to beat and fearing no-one in the Champions League.
James said: “The season started off a bit strange and if you’d said we would have been here at the start of the season then we probably would not have believed you.
“But it shows what’s possible with hard work, if everyone gets their head down and we come together as a team.
“As we’ve progressed in the Champions League, obviously the games have got harder and the higher stakes.
I’ve never been in this position before, like a lot of the other young lads, and we’re learning a lot on the way.
“You can’t go into games with any fear. You can acknowledge a good team but you can’t go in worrying.
“We’re a very good team as well and play to our many strengths, and I think that’s shown over recent weeks.
“I just hope we can continue our good form and keep improving as a team.
“Going into every game, we need to have our heads up and go into the games positively. We can’t fear anyone and we feel very confident going into games.
“We work hard defensively as a team and do a lot of work in training on how to defend as a unit. We make sure we take that into games.”
James also said that Chelsea’s youngsters are having to learn to be more streetwise to get free-kicks and decisions.
Porto kicked and fouled Christian Pulisic throughout Tuesday’s quarterfinal second leg but James said sometimes players just have to give a bit back.
He sais: “That’s part of playing in the Champions League. When you play against foreign teams they know what to do to get through, so you sometimes have to give some back as well.”