Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand praised a “sublime” performance from Reece James that showed why he is ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold in the battle to play for England at the World Cup.
He also shackled Milan forward Rafael Leao, particularly in the second half when the Serie A side hardly threatened.
Champions League
‘Outstanding’ Tomori ‘deserves’ England place – Ferdinand and Cole
3 HOURS AGO
Debate has raged over the last few weeks over whether James, Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker or Kieran Trippier should play at right-back for England.
But former Chelsea winger Cole and ex-England defender Rio Ferdinand were impressed with what they saw from James against Milan.
“Reece James was sublime all night,” Cole said on BT Sport.
“Not enough superlatives to say about him.”
Ferdinand added: “What I loved about Reece James in the second half is he was aggressive with Rafael Leao. He said ‘I’ll defend you and also be an effective player at the other end of the pitch’.
“The difference with Reece James, he wants the fight. On the ball I believe he’s equally as good as Trent Alexander-Arnold and defensively right now he’s a lot sharper. He defends better than Trent in one v ones situations. That’s the difference between them at the moment. It’s going to be a great battle and a great subplot to the Premier League at the moment.
“At the moment Reece is having a great spell and is ahead of Trent in my eyes, but that could change because there are ups and downs.”
Chelsea’s win moves them up to second place in Group E, one point behind Salzburg with three games played.
Cole believes the performance showed they are moving in the “right direction” under new manager Graham Potter.
“There was a massive gulf in class, it was a routine win and it was disappointing from Milan, they threw the towel in with 20 or 30 minutes to go. They got well beaten.
“When you have a juggernaut like Milan coming to town and you get a routine win, it shows you are going in the right direction.”
The only negative on the night for Chelsea was an injury to defender Wesley Fofana after he scored the opening goal.
But the enforced change did not impact the result as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and James struck in the second half.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring for Chelsea
Image credit: Getty Images
“There was a lot of pressure going into this game as they hadn’t started well in the Champions League,” said Ferdinand.
“You have to get points on the board at home. All the right buttons are being pressed at the moment and momentum is key and they are starting to build that.
“It’s a good time, you can sense the crowd are happy with what they are seeing and it’s a step in the right direction.”
Chelsea travel to Milan next week in the Champions League for the return fixture.
Champions League
Impressive Chelsea beat AC Milan to secure first CL win of season
5 HOURS AGO
Ballon d’Or
‘Benzema easily deserves it’ – Mane chooses Real Madrid star as his Ballon d’Or winner
13 HOURS AGO
