Just over four months ago, Enzo Maresca strongly criticised Chelsea captain Reece James for his lack of leadership qualities. Maresca had only been working with James for a few months at that point but he called on the right-back to "show more in terms of personality".

The 25-year-old, who was given the captain's armband at the start of the Mauricio Pochettino era back in the summer of 2023, missed the first 11 matches of the season for the Blues because of a hamstring injury but returned to the side in a defeat to Liverpool in October, just before Maresca demanded more from his skipper. The Italian was not impressed with what he had witnessed behind the scenes from James, a Chelsea academy graduate, and asked for more on the Blues' trip to Greece to take on Panathinaikos in the UEFA Conference League.

"I spoke with him and I expect from him more in terms of leadership inside the changing room," Maresca said in October of last year. "He's on the way, he's doing well, he's progressing but I expect more.

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"Most of the time, a player thinks that 'because I am captain I expect that you [the manager] give me more'. No, for me, because you are the captain, you have to give more. You have to give more than the rest.

"I expect it from Reece and his teammates expect it from him to give always more in terms of leadership." Maresca continued: "He's understanding that we're expecting more from him.

"He's our guy from the academy. It's one of the reasons why he has to show more in terms of personality. He's a reserved guy. But when you don't have a proper leader, you need to build that. I think we don't have a proper leader, we need to build them.

"Reece is one who is on the way but he is not there. He needs to make an effort."

Unfortunately, but rather inevitably given James' torrid luck with injuries, another hamstring problem soon followed for the defender. James missed a further 10 matches in a hectic December schedule for Chelsea but made his return to action as a second-half substitute in the draw with Bournemouth on January 14. Incidentally, James rescued a point for the hosts at Stamford Bridge with a late free-kick in front of the Matthew Harding Stand - a real captain's contribution.

From the outside, it is difficult to gauge exactly what a club captain is doing behind the scenes in order to boost morale but thanks to the insight of Tosin Adarabioyo, we know a bit more about something that happened last week. The Chelsea players, as revealed by Tosin, went out for a meal together - something that was set up by James in a bid to improve the mood around the camp in what has been a difficult time for the Blues on the pitch.

"We went for a team meal last week just to keep the unity," Tosin said to TNT Sports earlier in the week. "A good thing to do throughout the season. It's time away from the training facilities to be together and relax."

Those comments came before Chelsea's 4-0 win against Southampton on Tuesday evening in what was just the Blues' third Premier League win since the turn of the year. The west Londoners, coming into the match earlier in the week, had won just two of their previous 10 in the top-flight, something that has seen Chelsea go from potential, albeit unlikely, title contenders to fighting for a place in next season's UEFA Champions League.

The victory over the Saints saw Chelsea move temporarily into the top four of the table. However, 24 hours later, Manchester City won at Tottenham to see them leapfrog the Blues once more. There is, though, only one point between Chelsea and City with 11 matches of the league season remaining.

Finishing in the top five could be enough for Champions League football this time around. Two leagues will be rewarded with an extra place in next season's competition based on performance in Europe this term. Last season, we saw Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A giving an extra spot but it is looking increasingly likely that it will be the Premier League this time.

Chelsea have the weekend off after they were eliminated from the FA Cup at the fourth round stage against Brighton a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Man City take on Plymouth Argyle in the fifth round on Saturday evening. City travel to Nottingham Forest next weekend in the Premier League, while Chelsea welcome struggling Leicester City to Stamford Bridge in another must-win game for the Blues.