Would the real Lauren James please stand up
The number 10 shirt shows both club and player feel she's ready to unleash her full potential
The number 10 is perhaps the most famous shirt number in the history of football, all time greats such as Pele, Maradona and Lionel Messi are just three players that have made the shirt number synonymous with success.
Whilst it may not matter too much for some supporters which number a player wears, for the players it definitely matters, for some players their shirt number has sentimental value, for others, such as Sam Kerr and the number 20, their shirt number is an extension of their ‘brand’.
For Chelsea, the number had belonged to Ji So-Yun for the past 8 years, the South Korean, who arrived at Chelsea in 2014, is arguably the most important signing in the clubs’ history.
Her talent helped take Chelsea to the next level, with the club winning their first major honour in 2015 when they beat Notts County 1-0 in the FA Cup final, with Ji scoring the all important winning goal.
This is why Lauren James taking over the number 10 is significant, for the past 8 years we’ve watched Ji perform in the biggest moments, scoring goals in Champions League semi-finals and winning football matches virtually on her own.
We’re yet to see that from James, whose Chelsea career thus far has been somewhat underwhelming, having arrived with much fan-fair from Manchester United in 2021.
The 20-year-old has been battling against injury and according to rumours, off the field issues stemming from her Manchester United days, however this move to the new number shows that both the club, and the player herself, have faith that those days are now behind her.
Speaking after James netted her first, and only, goal for Chelsea, in the 9-0 away win at Leicester City, Hayes said “I’ve made no secret of the time we’ve taken to get Lauren [James] in that place,
“There’s a reason for it and perfect timing for her to get her first goal and I thought it was a superb cameo from her when she came into the game.
“She’s 100 per cent fit, but she doesn’t have the match minutes and doesn’t have a pre-season behind her.”
James featured in just 139 minutes in the WSL last season, only Maren Mjelde (70) who was returning from a lengthy spell out with injury and winter signing Alsu Abdullina (63) played less game time for the Blues in the league last season.
For that reason, it’s hard to take much from her stats, having just three shots and an xG of 0.28 is not much to write home about, perhaps the one thing we can look at is how Hayes deployed her in those fleeting minutes.
James played either as a striker or as a right winger and it’s her ability to take a defender on and more often than not be successful is what she’ll be looking to bring to the side next season.
Chelsea’s attacking play is often done at high speed, but when they struggle, is when faced with low blocks that deny them counter attacking opportunities, here is where James can come into play, she attempted 17 dribbles last season, with a success rate of 88.2%.
Opponents can of course double up on her, but this will leave space vacant for the whole host of world class attacking players to be so deadly. Sometimes in a game you need a moment of genius from an individual player, and James has the qualities to do just that.
She’s best with the ball at her feet, tempting defenders to make a lunge before easily skipping past and opening up space in that final third. It’s a skill that we don’t really see the other attacking players use, with both Pernille Harder and Fran Kirby so good at finding space in that final third and being able to turn on the ball to create space.
In those games with such dense player activity in those areas, having the option to give James the ball could be crucial as Chelsea look to compete on all fronts.
Of course, James is not the finished article, at 20-years-old, we shouldn’t expect her to be, a change in shirt number does not mean that she’s now going to play every minute of every game for Chelsea.
We saw in the Conti Cup final, her lapse in defensive concentration lead to a goal for Manchester City, these are things Hayes and the rest of the coaching staff will be drilling into her during her first full pre-season for the club.
But, the big thing that this change in number highlights, is that the belief is there from both player and club, that the potential that we all know Lauren James to have is ready to be unlocked.
She’s missing out on a European Championship on home soil, overlooked by England manager Sarina Wiegman for obvious reasons. She’s got fierce competition for a future spot from players like Lauren Hemp, Beth Mead, Ella Toone, the list can go on and on.
So she really can’t afford another season to pass her by, she needs a good pre-season to hit the ground running and be ready for selection from match week one.
Once we start to see some consistency in her game, we can then judge whether or not we’ve signed the player we thought we had last season, but given the significance of the number 10 shirt, and the legacy left behind of the last player to wear it, it feels as though Lauren James is ready to reintroduce herself.
Would the real Lauren James please stand up.
Welcome back - I missed your musings! The Conti Cup aside (where frankly no one covered themselves in glory), I was impressed with what I saw of LJ - strong on the ball and deceptively fast. It's always troubling when a young player has injury and fitness issues so hopefully she can put those behind her.
Oh ... and kudos for not mentioning Reese!
She is fat slow and lazy