Mauricio Pochettino hails Reece James’ leadership and defends captain after ban

Mauricio Pochettino says Reece James’ “leadership” is why he handed him the Chelsea captaincy and defended the full-back after he picked up a suspension during his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last month.

James, who did not play the match through injury, was suspended for Chelsea’s win over Burnley for aiming “abusive words” at a match official in the tunnel during the clash at Stamford Bridge and was ordered to pay a £90,000 fine.

But Pochettino has seen James’ leadership attributes and believes his actions were a mistake fuelled by frustration after he sustained a hamstring injury in August.

“Why did I choose him as captain? Because of his personality, his leadership, the respect he has from the club and his team-mates and he has my full respect also,” Pochettino said.

“Chelsea is in his DNA and when you see the squad he is not only for the present, he is for the future and in this moment Chelsea need someone like that.

“I think he was upset with the situation. He was so committed with this project from the beginning, he felt really bad because he could not help the team.

“He made a mistake but he’s young and he can make mistakes. He was really sorry about that situation and I don’t think it will be repeated.

“Even myself at Burnley I got a yellow card at half-time and I’m 51 years old; sometimes a young guy can make a mistake, he was frustrated because he could not help the team.”

Chelsea v Leicester City – Premier League – Stamford Bridge

Pochettino said that James’ fitness “will be assessed” ahead of Saturday’s clash against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, quashing reports the full-back suffered a setback in his recovery.

James has only started 22 times in the Premier League since January 2022 after a raft of injury issues.

Pochettino added: “He is much better, he’s doing well and he’s progressing. He’s not at his best and is not 100 per cent, but he is in a position to help the team at some point and he is close.

“What we are going to do is to avoid that (surgery) and we are building a strategy for him, to put him at his best and keep him at his best.

“We are confident (of this). Always confident.”

Fulham v Chelsea – Premier League – Craven Cottage

Mykhailo Mudryk scored his first competitive goal for Chelsea during their 2-0 victory over Fulham and he opened his account for Ukraine when he netted against Malta in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Tuesday.

Pochettino is happy with the winger’s progress after the 22-year-old struggled to adapt to life in west London following his big-money move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January.

He said: “We are so happy with him. He’s changed a lot in the last three months since we first met him and he’s a completely different person and we can see how lovely, sensitive, smart and clever he is.

“It is so important to give confidence and when people trust they can be open and express their talent and Misha (Mudryk) is doing really well with his relationships with the team and club.”