Reece James injury adds to Maurico Pochettino's problems at Chelsea

Blues captain lasted only 27 minutes of Premier League defeat at Everton due to another hamstring problem

Chelsea's English defender #24 Reece James (C) leaves the pitch during the English Premier League football match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on DecembShow more

Another injury to captain Reece James has added to the mounting problems of manager Maurico Pochettino at Chelsea.

James lasted only 27 minutes of Chelsea's demoralising Premier League defeat against Everton on Sunday, a result that leaves the London club languishing 12th in the Premier League table.

The 24-year-old, who was appointed club captain by Pochettino during the summer, made only 16 appearances last season due to injuries that also saw him ruled out for England at the Qatar World Cup.

The loss at Goodison Park was James's fifth league start of the campaign after he was injured during the opening weekend draw with Liverpool in August and did not return until October 21.

This new problem will be his seventh hamstring injury in the last three years and means James is a doubt for the hectic festive period, which sees Chelsea playing five games between now and the end of the year, starting with bottom club Sheffield United on Saturday.

“Reece felt something in his hamstring. For sure he's injured, but we don't know how serious it is,” said Pochettino after the game on Merseyside.

“Of course for us he is an important player, one of the best full backs in the world. We are disappointed because when you believe you can build something and a player like him who should be really important for us can't help the team.

“We go back and assess again in the next few days what is going on with his hamstring.”

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and left-back Marc Cucurella also came off injured at Everton and will also be assessed.

“Robert Sanchez suffered a problem at Manchester United, it was an issue with his knee,” Pochettino said. “He felt something during the second half, that is why he asked for the change. We must hope it is not a big issue.

“That is the same for Marc Cucurella, who twisted his ankle. We hope that these issues are not big. These are the circumstances we have been dealing with since the start and it is too much for a young team that needs to have all the elements together if we want to build something solid.”

Chelsea are now 18 points behind leaders Liverpool, and are closer to the bottom three than the top four. Manchester City occupy fourth place and are 14 points ahead of Pochettino's side, while third-bottom Luton Town are 10 points behind Chelsea.

The Everton defeat was Chelsea's 18th in the league in 2023 while this represents their worst start to a Premier League season since 2015/16, when Jose Mourinho was sacked in mid-December by previous owner Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion since owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali took over in May 2022, with 13 players brought in at a cost of more than £400 million in the summer.

Everton 2 Chelsea 0: Player ratings

But Pochettino believes the club will have to dig into their pockets again during the January transfer window.

“After the first half of the season, we need to check. That is the reality," said the Argentine. “If we are not receiving enough, maybe we need to do some movement.

“That is the thing to analyse with the sporting directors, to see if we can change this dynamic and improve in the second half of the season.

“We need to be more aggressive. Then it's a massive assessment and when the transfer window opens, we will see what we can do.

“I don't say if I am going to ask for more or less players. It's to see if the perception matches the reality.

“We are missing something. We need to improve our reality.”