Reece James believes Chelsea are building the best team in the world, or at least one of them

Following Liverpool’s victory over Everton on Monday night, Chelsea are back down to 10th place in the Premier League, ten points off the top-four, and seemingly going nowhere fast at the moment, despite the record amounts spent in the transfer market in each of the last two windows.

But all that incoming (young) talent, not to mention the (equally young) talent already at the club does engender hope of a brighter future. When that future might arrive is anyone’s guess, but the narrative we’re clinging to is that once it all starts clicking, we’re going to be unstoppable.

In a way, we have to believe in that, and especially if you’re personally involved in it. Otherwise, what’s the point? Thankfully, Reece James is a true believer.

“I don’t think there’s a trophy we can’t win. When that happens I don’t know, but with the team we’re building and what the club is turning into…

“With all the young players, once we have played together for a longer period of time I think we’re going to be one of the best teams in the world.”

-Reece James; source: Sky via Metro

With maximum emotion and word count (by his own standards):

And that’s a flawless theory. Unfortunately it does still rely on flawless execution, correct guidance, proper leadership, and strong management. Raw talent will get us far, but not all the way.

There’s also this teeny-tiny little problem of not having an infinite timeline, despite the endless amount of patience afforded to the current coaching staff. These sorts of ambitions cannot be sustained by midtable (or, god forbid, worse) performances, not competitively and not financially.

The owners want to generate stability, that much is obvious, but it’s no good to evaluate things only after the window of opportunity has been missed or too much damage has been done.

“You can’t talk about the long-term because that doesn’t exist in this job. You have to acknowledge there’s a long term but there’s a short term and medium term that is challenging for us in terms of results. [We] want to win. We all do and the supporters do. That’s where it’s been challenging.”

-Graham Potter; source: Evening Standard

Anyway, Wednesday is another chance to show some true progress. The league (top-four) is essentially gone at this point, but a few more rounds of Champions League football wouldn’t hurt anybody’s belief.

“It’s a fresh competition and we have to go in on a clear canvas. We just need to try and play our football, we know what we are capable of doing. I feel like we have everything it takes to get the job done.”

-Reece James; source: Sky

I want to believe.