The second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Chelsea ended in a 1-0 win for Mikel Arteta's side, as Liam Rosenior's men failed to beat the Gunners in the absence of Reece James. The Chelsea captain is one of their best players, and he could've been a difference maker if he had played against Arsenal.
Reece had made a total of 23 appearances for Chelsea this Premier League season, scoring 2 and assisting another 4 so far in the campaign.
Liam Rosenior Addresses Reece James absence in press conference
The following are the words from Liam Rosenior's post-match press conference after the Carabao Cup defeat against Arsenal when asked about injury issues and availability issues:
"Pedro [Neto] and Reece [James] had small knocks. They were just in too much pain for tonight. They're giving everything. They would always put their hand up to play. Reece is an incredible captain and leader. I know Pedro is an outstanding professional and a great player. Estevao [Willian], I have to say, for him, 18 years old, to go through something very personal for him, to fly to Brazil and fly back in two days to make sure he could play in this game, says everything about the character and spirit I want for this team. And in terms of Cole [Palmer], Cole gave us an incredible 90-minute performance, the reason we fought back against West Ham. We have to take care of him. He's a gem. We have to take care of him and make sure he's right for the whole season. But when he came on, his moments were top. So all in all, disappointed not to go through against what will be a very, very good team, but we can't let this setback affect our future."
From these words of Liam Rosenior, it's apparent that Chelsea fans don't have to worry about Reece James picking up any major injury. It sounds like James could've played if he really wanted to, but Rosenior decided to not take any risk. The decision was undoubtedly the right one despite Chelsea losing the game, as Rosenior and Chelsea would need James for the rest of the Premier League season.
Our opinion on Reece James absence against Arsenal the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final
There is absolutely no doubt that Chelsea missed Reece James immensely in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal. One of the biggest drawbacks of the Chelsea side is its inexperience and lack of older leaders. James is arguably the most experienced and standout leader in the team, and his presence in such an important cup fixture would've meant much more than just having a great player on the field for Chelsea.
However, Chelsea fans should be just thankful that James hasn't picked up any major injury. That is the most important thing, as the English right-back has had a terrible injury record and only recently he's starting to play competitive football for a long period of time. James' injury issues were the only thing that stopped him from being one of the best right-backs in the world, but he finally does look to have overcome them and could yet again have his name amongst the world's best right-backs if he continues to perform brilliantly for Chelsea.
