"Such an overrated player" "Car crash of a footballer" - Chelsea star gets ripped apart for his performance on international duty
Football fans took to Twitter to criticize Chelsea right wing-back Reece James for his performance in England's 1-0 loss against Hungary on Saturday, June 4.
While some called him "overrated," others compared him to Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was subbed off for James.
The Three Lions lost their opening encounter of the UEFA Nations League after a lackluster performance.
With the score still goalless, England manager Gareth Southgate decided to substitute Alexander-Arnold for James in the 62nd minute. The Chelsea man then had a woeful 28 minutes on the pitch.
He gave away a penalty in the 64th minute. Hungary's Zsolt Nagy received a long ball in England's box which James dealt with but fouled the winger in the process. Dominik Szoboszlai converted the penalty to score the winner for the hosts.
The Chelsea defender had a rough match aside from that penalty as well. He lost possession nine times, made two fouls, won just one out of his three attempted ground duels and had a 77% passing accuracy.
Fans took note of his performance and took to Twitter to express their disappointment. Here are some of their reactions:
Reece James is such an overrated player. England were playing well with Trent until this fraud came in and now he caused a pk
England hadnβt lost a game in close to 2 years until Southgate decided to sub on Reece James.
Reece James πππ
The entire Reece James v Trent conversations are so boring cause 90% of time people already made up their mind so youβre talking to a wall
Reece James makes a defensive mistake - flirting
Trent makes a defensive mistake - harassment
Reece James is so ass, car crash of a football player.
@brfootball LETS LAUGH AT REECE JAMES ππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ
@brfootball They say better than Trent πππ
To be fair to Southgate, Alexander-Arnold had a poor game himself before being subbed off.
The Liverpool man made just two accurate crosses out of an attempted six and just three accurate long balls out of an attempted six. He lost possession 12 times and had a passing accuracy of 78%.
It was truly a rough night for both the right-backs.
Chelsea set to sign 23-year-old defender - Reports
As per AS, Chelsea are set to complete the signing of Sevilla defender Jules Kounde this summer. It is 'only a matter of time' as the the transfer fee of between β¬60-β¬65 million is not a problem.
Sevilla will look to sign at least one defender before confirming Kounde's sale. Diego Carlos has already joined Aston Villa this summer, leaving the Spanish side light at the back.
Thomas Tuchel will be buoyed by this potential signing after losing two defenders this summer. Antonio Rudiger has officially joined Real Madrid with his contract with the Blues expiring this summer.
Meanwhile, as per Football London, Andreas Christensen is likely to join Barcelona once the Spanish side sort out their financial troubles. They will need to sell some players to complete Christensen's signing, whose contract with the Blues also expires this summer.