Since switching to Chelsea Women last summer from WSL rivals Manchester United Women, Lauren James has had to spend a lot of time on the substitutes’ bench, with the immense wealth of talent already at Kingsmeadow keeping her out of the starting XI.
However, the 20-year-old has recently been handed the club’s number 10 shirt, taking it over from the now-departed South Korea captain Ji So-yun, which suggests that manager Emma Hayes plans to give her more time on the field during the coming campaign.
Positionally, James is comfortable as either a forward or a playmaker and comes from a footballing family, with older brother Reece James already an established name in the Chelsea and England men’s teams.
Therefore, there are high hopes that she will emulate her sibling and achieve just as much success in her career.
To assess what she will bring to the team if her opportunities do increase, this tactical analysis will break down her individual game and identify the qualities that will help her to fit their preferred team structure.
This Lauren James’ scout report will also highlight the areas that perhaps aren’t so strong at the moment, and therefore, where she can continue to improve her game and develop as a player.
Lauren James Positioning
The first aspect of Lauren James’ style of play to explore is her positioning, a crucial element for any player to excel in.
By continually moving into areas where she can make things happen, she will keep catching the eye and demonstrating a good understanding of the team’s game plan, which is essential if she is to secure a regular place in the starting XI next season.
As a forward, it is important to possess a natural instinct for making attacking runs and spotting open spaces, and both are qualities that James has demonstrated on numerous occasions.
In this case, Denmark captain Pernille Harder is looking to pass into the space behind Birmingham City Women’s defenders and build a goalscoring opportunity, which James has recognised and so has positioned herself in that area.
On this occasion, Christie Murray and Lisa Robertson (the latter of whom spent last season on loan at St. Andrews from Celtic Women) closed Harder down and prevented James from receiving the ball.
However, the fact that she made the run again demonstrates that she knows where the spaces are and can enter areas that aid her team’s progression up the field.
The 3-4-3 system introduced by Emma Hayes this time last year works by more players being allowed to get into central areas, which has allowed the midfielders to link up with the wide forwards on more occasions, just as Harder and James almost did here.
The latter’s tendency to stay inside the pitch and look to get on the ball as often as possible is key, as it is where she has demonstrated previously that she is at her best.
This makes Lauren a perfect fit for Chelsea Women’s tactics, and the fact that their system enables her to continue playing to her strengths will be important in her individual development.
Whilst James is most effective operating in central areas, it is incorrect to assume that she is a worse player when out on the wings.
Instead, the 20-year-old transfers her individual qualities to those areas, again demonstrating the same positional awareness as before, and always looks to help her team in any way she can.
Here, she has taken a step back from her Leicester City Women opponents, giving herself more time to control the ball and assess her surroundings.
Whilst there are two easier choices she could take, both of which would keep the ball moving and maintain possession, she looks to deliver the ball into the goal area, having spotted Australian striker Sam Kerr waiting for the ball to come her way.
Therefore, when she is in dangerous areas of the pitch, she takes control of situations and is a key player in dictating the subsequent phases of play.
For James to have that type of character at such a young age is really impressive.
However, it is essential to note that the time to make this decision stemmed from her positioning, demonstrating once again how it is one of her key qualities.
The wings are not areas of the pitch that she often frequents, but the fact that she can transfer her skills highlights her versatility and ability to offer Chelsea different tactical options.
That ability to step back and create space also comes into play when James is in central goalscoring positions, as is shown here.
Again, Leicester are not aware of the former Manchester United forward’s positioning here and are instead ball-watching.
Therefore, when the ball enters the box, they are still moving towards their own goal, as indicated by the red arrow, and are unable to change direction to prevent the ball from reaching James.
What the Chelsea player did well here was that she noticed early on how Leicester were continually edging towards their goal and so held her position, sitting between the two lines and waiting for Niamh Charles to take the ball around former Liverpool Women teammate Jemma Purfield.
Whilst this was where the hard work was done, it is James’ ability to assess her surroundings again and get into the right position that makes this goal, because the ball might have been intercepted if she was in any other position inside the Leicester box.
Therefore, again, her positioning is key in helping her team create chances, showing what Chelsea fans can potentially look forward to from her next season.
Lauren James Awareness
It was mentioned in the last section that Lauren James’ clever positioning allows her to see things around the pitch, whether that is open spaces or passing options, and this is what this next section will build on.
By being aware of her surroundings, James can make informed judgments about when to try different passes and when to close down or sit back, which is again important in helping her adapt to different systems and styles of play.
As mentioned, Manchester United tended to utilise her in more of a playmaker role at Leigh Sports Village, deploying her as a means of breaking through opposing lines and finding ways to win tight games.
Therefore, she has a good track record when it comes to playing balls through small gaps and linking up with teammates.
As shown here, Chelsea has picked up on this, with Birmingham, who were relegated from the WSL last season, tending to sit back and focus on being hard to beat during the majority of their matches.
Having patience when playing them is critical, as is being a player who can make different passes at the right time.
This is what Chelsea benefited from having Lauren James on the field, as she could capitalise on those chances when they presented themselves, as evidenced by her 77.9% passing accuracy and her 80% accuracy specifically for through passes.
In this case, Sam Kerr has made a run between the Birmingham defenders and is now looking for a pass, which James provides, taking five opponents out of the game in the process and instantly exposing the spaces they have left open behind them.
Therefore, her ability to operate as a playmaker and set up opportunities is clear to see.
However, Lauren James is just as useful when those forward passes are not available and the team needs to retain possession, with her awareness again coming into prominence when she is looking around for other ways to maintain momentum.
Here, the 20-year-old has seen Norway international Guro Reiten, who often featured at left wing-back for the team last season, in open space on the near side of the field, so she sends the ball in her direction and forces Birmingham to move across the pitch to prevent Reiten from having time to cause them problems.
The key point to take from these last two images is that James is adaptable and constantly aware of the right time to make particular passes, which is a really important quality to have and one that allows Chelsea Women to move the ball around and create gaps in opposing lines.
With Germany midfielder Melanie Leupolz currently on maternity leave, Emma Hayes will need a player in the short-term who can sit in a slightly deeper area of the pitch and control the flow of matches, so this is one way that James could potentially establish herself in the starting XI for some of next season at least.
On the occasions that Chelsea opt to sit back, they need to be good at winning the ball high up the pitch and preventing their opponents — in this case, Manchester City Women — from getting too near their goal area.
With James leading the line at this stage of the game, she was responsible for leading the press and so needed to have good awareness and understanding of when was the right time to close down and when to wait and stay in closer proximity to her teammates.
By pressing at the right time, as she does here, she prevents England defender Alex Greenwood from releasing the ball as quickly as the former Lyon Féminin star would have liked to, giving her teammates a better chance of attempting an interception.
Therefore, by getting tight to Greenwood and disrupting her and Manchester City’s rhythm, James has helped her team to regain the ball and end the immediate danger.
The fact that she won 53.8% of her defensive duels last season highlights how this is another positive aspect of Lauren James’ style of play, and Chelsea Women will always pose a threat out of possession when she is on the pitch for this reason.
Lauren James Areas To Work On
There is clearly a lot to like about her game, and many reasons to be optimistic about the role she might play at Chelsea Women next season.
However, if she does become a more permanent name in the starting XI, there are some areas of Lauren James’ style of play that need improvement.
There have been some situations when she hasn’t got her head up and looked around, while equally, there have been times at which she has before then making the wrong choice.
Both of these show that her decision-making can sometimes let her down.
Here, against West Ham United Women, Lauren James has Reiten available alongside her for a short pass, and taking this option would help to build play and potentially lead to the ball being sent towards the other side of the field, securing possession.
However, the 20-year-old opts not to use Reiten and instead drives forwards with the ball, committing to a 1v1 duel with West Ham playmaker Yui Hasegawa in the process, losing the ball due to the Japan playmaker being too strong for her and winning a foul.
In fact, she only succeeded in 36% of her offensive duels last season.
So, whilst her bravery and ability to take the initiative on the pitch have previously been commended in this analysis, what she now needs to learn is when the easier option is the better one to take, as doing so could be the difference between winning three points or one point, or securing a win and being on the end of a loss.
It has also been shown that James gets into areas in the final third where she can make things happen, either out wide or in the middle.
However, what lets her down is the often-poor quality of her crosses, with the example shown earlier against Leicester being one of the few times that her delivery had the necessary accuracy.
Only 8.3% of James’s crosses in all competitions were successful.
She only made 12 crosses throughout the season, but the fact that she didn’t register any assists reflects how her attempts rarely led to anything.
It is possible that James may be on the wing in some games for Chelsea, with Hayes potentially looking to use her positioning ability to stretch out the opposing defence.
Therefore, delivering balls into central spaces with greater accuracy is something that she will definitely need to work on during the summer, as it is another thing that could help her to secure a place in the starting XI.
The last element that James needs to improve on is her goal conversion rate because she only netted once in all competitions for Chelsea last season, whilst just 37.5% of her shots were on target.
Admittedly, she only featured in 12 matches and played a total of 305 minutes in all competitions, so didn’t have many opportunities to make her mark, but she did waste some promising chances, such as this one in the dying minutes of Chelsea’s Champions League group game against 2020/2021 Swiss champions Servette Chênois Féminin.
Like before, she has stepped back from the defenders to give herself more time to connect with the ball, but ends up sending the cutback from Scotland midfielder Erin Cuthbert over the bar.
Chelsea only won this game by one goal, but they had opportunities to win by a larger margin, and this was an effort that James needed to capitalise on.
Therefore, again, if she is to establish herself in the starting XI next season, James needs to show more potency in the final third.
It doesn’t matter if she is playing as the central striker or in another area of the field, because Chelsea don’t rely solely on their strikers for goals, with everyone expected to contribute when chances come their way.
Being more productive will therefore be crucial to ensuring that James remains in the picture.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has looked in detail at Chelsea Women’s young forward Lauren James’ style of play, who joined last summer in a highly publicised move from Manchester United but has yet to really nail down a place in their starting lineup.
However, there is a strong possibility that 2022/2023 could be her time to shine, and the faith that the club have in her is reflected in their decision to give her the shirt number worn previously by a strong fan favourite.
With the diverse qualities she possesses, the 20-year-old can operate in several areas, which is a significant advantage; it remains to be seen where Emma Hayes believes she would be at her best.
Nevertheless, we come back to the elephant in the room, which is the vast amount of squad competition that Chelsea Women currently have.
As well as the many names who featured last season, Leupolz will return at some point from her leave whilst the club have added Czech Republic midfielder Kateřina Svitková, France and Canada defenders Ève Périsset and Kadeisha Buchanan, respectively, and young winger Lucy Watson, who has joined after impressing for Sheffield United Women in the second tier.
Meanwhile, another young forward, Aggie Beever-Jones, has returned from her impressive loan spell at Bristol City Women.
Therefore, Lauren James will need to find a way of standing out from the crowd in the forthcoming campaign, as failing to deliver on the field could see her revert to being among the replacements.
