Reece James has thrown his support behind Filip Jorgensen after his errors triggered Chelsea’s dramatic late collapse in defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
The Blues held their own for long stretches at the Parc des Princes and had the match level at two goals apiece with 74 minutes played.
But Jorgensen, making a rare start ahead of Robert Sanchez, misplaced a pass which then gifted PSG a 3-2 lead before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s brace left Chelsea staring Champions League elimination in the face.
Chelsea lost their heads and capitulated after Jorgensen’s error. Club vice-captain Enzo Fernandez was caught on camera furiously remonstrating with the Dane after one of the goals, going so far as to throw a ball in his direction.
With the dust settled after the full-time whistle, James insisted the Blues were united behind their keeper, saying his errors were part and parcel of Liam Rosenior’s style of play.
“This is football, this is the way we want to play,” he explained to TNT Sport. “If you play out from the back, mistakes are going to happen.
“Everyone in the team understands that. That is how the manager wants us to play. We are fully behind Filip.”
Chelsea must overturn a three-goal deficit at Stamford Bridge next week if they are to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals.
PSG’s lead appears insurmountable, but as far as James is concerned, stranger things have happened.
He declared: “This is the Champions League. It is the greatest competition in club football.
“Many teams have turned ties around from four-nil, five-nil down before. We need to put this behind us and look forward.
Pressed as to what went wrong for the Blues in Paris, he mused: “It is difficult to say. Looking at the game, it was fairly even up until the 70th minute. The last 15 or 20 minutes kinda ran away from us and we didn’t finish how we wanted.”
