Enzo Maresca’s Reece James experiment in midfield helped Chelsea secure their slender advantage over Copenhagen as the club captain unleashed a 25-yard bolt from the blue when the visitors were struggling to impact this Conference League last-16 first leg.
It was after being appointed Blues boss in the summer that Maresca watched back a few Wigan games from 2018-19. As unusual as that sounds, the reason was he wanted to see how a teenage James coped as a midfielder while on loan there.
Clearly, he sees something in the 25-year-old’s skillset that can occasionally work in the middle, and James’ strike came after Maresca made three half-time substitutions following a dire first half in which they failed to test Copenhagen goalkeeper Diant Ramaj.