CHELSEA CAPTAIN SET FOR A BIG MIDFIED ROLE.

Alonso using James as a Midfielder in his preferred 3_4_2_1 formation appears to be a natural place to slot in the Chelsea captain. James is almost too well balanced as a right_back to play on the right flank in Alonso's system.

On the right of the back three, he would be too far back, so his pace and attacking quality of pass and shot will be wasted. As a right_wing back, he'll be too far forward so his defensive solidify and physicality will not be properly harnessed.

Midfield offers Alonso a happy medium, a way of making the most of James' well_ balanced, 'jack of all trades' playing style.

While seeing James as a Midfielder instead of a full_back might be new, suspecting his many attributes being useful in the middle of the park is definitely not.

Back in a September 2021 qualifier against lowly Andorra at Wembley, the England manager Gareth Southgate wanted to give James' right_back rival Trent Alexander_Arnold a try in midfield. Arnold struggled in that position and England only led by a lone goal at half_time. But Southgate's midfield's tweak at half_time, putting James in the midfield and reverting TAA back to right_back position worked.

James only played there from the 46th minutes until he was substituted in the 63nd minutes yet he looked more at home in that midfield department than his teammate had being, and it was a glimmer of things to come. There were moments in games during this Summer's world cup when Thomas Tuchel knew he could rely on James to do a job in the middle of the park for the three Lions.

Most managers who have worked with the Chelsea skipper in his senior career have used him in midfield on occasion. It is just that Alonso is likely to use him there for the vast majority of the time the Englishman is on the field of play.

Alonso says he knew before he became the Blues’ manager of James’s ability to play in the engine room and says the 26-year-old has “the intelligence to connect with team-mates in the middle, to know what's the best thing before and after you get the ball”.

The manager added on Friday that James is already having a “very important role in that position”, that midfield gets the best out of his leadership skills, that he is “physically perfect” for the Premier League, and that he believes James can become one of the best midfielders in the world.

What a welcome end to the dramatic story of Chelsea’s post-Fernandez midfield succession-planning that would be.