Josh McEachran
Joshua Mark McEachran. This kid represents my single greatest hope from the Chelsea Academy. Brought into the first team picture under Carlo Ancelotti, this lifelong Blue made his debut in the Champions League against MSK Zilina at the age of 17, making him the first player to play in the Champions League born after the tournament was started.
As a player, he has a long way to go despite impressing many playing in the Championship with Boro last season. He was consistent when amply rested, and erratic when tired, as is expected of any teenager. Two seasons back, he had a poor loan spell with Swansea, who had other, more mature players in his ilk, hence robbing him of minutes and stalling his development. That sparked many people to say that he’s finished, he can’t cut it at Chelsea and what not. From being a promising youngster, he was relegated to the status of a failure, all at the age of 18/19.
Thankfully, it took the spotlight off him, and instead of being aggressive, Chelsea took a safe move by sending him to Boro. That’s where he actually blossomed. After being played on the right, McEachran won his place in the heart of the midfield and pulled strings from the deep. He was one of the Championship’s most impressive players. His most RIDICULOUS moment of the season is this run that would’ve made Messi proud.
As a player, McEachran is NOT like Lampard. He’s more like an Iniesta in that regard. Brilliant passing range, immaculate close control and microscopic vision and understanding of the game makes his play look like someone much older than he is. However, he appears to have been built on toothpicks rather than bones, and that causes a major concern so as to if he could ever adapt to the PL or not. But as has been shown by Modric, Oscar, Hazard, etc., if you’re technically skilled enough, your build doesn’t matter. But as he plays in the heart of the midfield, I’d prefer he stocks up on pasta so that the frail toothpicks don’t get broken.
The most important thing regarding McEachran is patience. A player of his type, a deep-lying playmaker, relies more on vision, maturity and, most importantly, decision making, to thrive. And as we all should understand, decision-making comes with time, and we ought to give Josh that time. I DO NOT expect him to perform any groundbreaking magic by the time he is atleast 23. Look at Xavi, Pirlo, Modric, etc. What were their stats when they were 19/20 ? McEachran’s will be similar to those. This is a position that demands patience, and we must afford it.
Talking of stats, I couldn’t find elaborate stats from the Championship, so I’ve tabled up all I could find, and here they are :
The best stats I could have used to comment on his, ie- passing stats are not available anywhere. Nothing noticeable here, so let’s move on.
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