Reece James says Chelsea do not give a damn about Paris Saint-Germain’s ‘favourites’ tag, with the club captain insisting they are ready to go ‘toe to toe’ with their final opponents.
PSG have kept the ball better than anyone at the Club World Cup – they even managed 69 per cent possession versus Real Madrid in the semi-finals – but the Blues intend on challenging that.
Chelsea insiders feel the heat and humidity for this 3pm kick-off in New Jersey would make it more difficult if they simply allowed PSG to dominate the play from start to finish.
Manager Enzo Maresca also appeared to take offence at his pre-match press conference when he was asked whether his side would need to be prepared to ‘suffer’ possession-wise.
James added: ‘This is a super-high-level game. They are one of the hottest teams in the world at the moment. This is a final, a one-off game, they are down as strong favourites.
‘I have been in finals where I have played for the favourites and not come out on top, so this doesn’t mean much to me and I don’t care to be honest that everyone is bigging up our opposition.
Reece James says Chelsea do not give a damn about Paris Saint-Germain’s ‘favourites’ tag
Maresca appeared offended when asked if Chelsea would need to ‘suffer’ possession wise
Paris Saint-Germain advanced to the Club World Cup final after dispatching Real Madrid 4-0
‘PSG have beaten all the English teams. They have an amazing team, but we have an amazing team and have surprised a lot of people. We’ve come a long way on our journey from where we started. We are preparing right and going there to win. I believe we will go toe to toe. Stats, data, favourites and not favourites doesn’t mean anything to our team.’
James also revealed that he is not injured, despite pulling out of the starting line-up to face Fluminense in the semi-finals. He felt he needed replacing as a precaution.
‘Just to be clear, I wasn’t injured so let’s put that to bed,’ James said. ‘I wasn’t feeling so good in the warm-up with my history. I could have played but it was a warning. I decided not to take an unnecessary risk and be available. I believed and thankfully we won that game.’
