🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Josh McEachran

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Either play him in the centre or don't play him at all. He offers nothing anywhere else on the pitch. Was shocking in his little spell today, whereas Chalobah looked a class apart.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I'm really disappointed with the club at the way McEachran hasn't been nurtured properly.

I mean it's saying a hell of a lot when guys like Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey &, worst of all, Tom Cleverly were allowed time and patience at their respective clubs and saw the fruition of it. Henderson even went on record to say that McEachran was a technically better player than Jack Wilshere is.

The club have a massive part to play in the damage done in not enhancing McEachran's career. There's no way Cleverly should be loaned out to a Premier League club like Wigan, when he was making his rise, and McEachran gets sent to Middlesbrough. Forgotten about.

This argument isn't even about whether McEachran as an individual, it's not about his work ethic or anything. It's about the club willing to spend millions on other players, fringe players, and then send these kids away and not even keeping a track on them.

It's embarrassing that Chelsea fielded 0 English u21's this season. We played guys like Benayoun in the center of midfield when we were short of numbers, while guys like Chalobah were making shockwaves in the Championship.

But hey.. It's only the Championship right? The level of quality isn't Premier League etc, etc. The old cliches.

[laeth 527]

I'm really disappointed with the club at the way McEachran hasn't been nurtured properly.

I mean it's saying a hell of a lot when guys like Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey &, worst of all, Tom Cleverly were allowed time and patience at their respective clubs and saw the fruition of it. Henderson even went on record to say that McEachran was a technically better player than Jack Wilshere is.

The club have a massive part to play in the damage done in not enhancing McEachran's career. There's no way Cleverly should be loaned out to a Premier League club like Wigan, when he was making his rise, and McEachran gets sent to Middlesbrough. Forgotten about.

This argument isn't even about whether McEachran as an individual, it's not about his work ethic or anything. It's about the club willing to spend millions on other players, fringe players, and then send these kids away and not even keeping a track on them.

It's embarrassing that Chelsea fielded 0 English u21's this season. We played guys like Benayoun in the center of midfield when we were short of numbers, while guys like Chalobah were making shockwaves in the Championship.

But hey.. It's only the Championship right? The level of quality isn't Premier League etc, etc. The old cliches.

The club sent him to Swansea; wasn't good enough to get in the team.

The club sends him to Middlesborough; was unanimously rubbish for 75% of the season.

Chalobah went to a Championship side and looked one of their best players and he's like 3 years younger. Josh isn't good enough. End of story I'm afraid.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Loan him somewhere in Holland. Best league for developing technical players. Only problem is probably his girlfriend will greet her eyes out for centuries if he goes anywhere outside England.

[The Skipper 20,609]

I'm really disappointed with the club at the way McEachran hasn't been nurtured properly.

Do you mean you're disappointed that he isn't nurturing into that world class player everyone thought he'd be (at 20 years old)?

I mean it's saying a hell of a lot when guys like Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey &, worst of all, Tom Cleverly were allowed time and patience at their respective clubs and saw the fruition of it. Henderson even went on record to say that McEachran was a technically better player than Jack Wilshere is.

How old were Henderson, Shelvey and Cleverley when they "broke through" to their respective first teams? The club haven't been criminal to considering Josh, I mean Ancelotti blooded him at a young age and then we sent him out on loan so he could gain experience - problem is that Josh hasn't had the desired effect at the clubs he's been loaned at. You can't solely blame the club on that. Josh is only 20 years old, tell me, what were the aforementioned doing at his age?

I think it's you that needs time and patience.

The club have a massive part to play in the damage done in not enhancing McEachran's career. There's no way Cleverly should be loaned out to a Premier League club like Wigan, when he was making his rise, and McEachran gets sent to Middlesbrough. Forgotten about.

Are you forgetting his loan spell at Swansea, clearly a PL club? At what age did Cleverley go out on loan to Wigan? You're over-exaggerating the whole situation - again trying to lay all the blame on the club and allowing Josh to walk away even though he hasn't set the world alight at either Swansea or Middlesborough.

This argument isn't even about whether McEachran as an individual, it's not about his work ethic or anything. It's about the club willing to spend millions on other players, fringe players, and then send these kids away and not even keeping a track on them.

In what way do the club not keep track on them? How do you know that? I'm tired of people making things up in order to bash the board/club.

It's embarrassing that Chelsea fielded 0 English u21's this season.

Tell me, how many other big clubs fielded English U21 this season? United? Phil Jones - bought for £15m+. Nick Powell - again brought in at around £6m and still barely played. City? Jack Rodwell (22 now) who again was bought for £15m and still only made a handful of appearances. Arsenal? AOC - again bought for a high fee. Tottenham? None that I know of. I don't know why you're trying to blame CFC for that when it's clearly the situation across all big teams.

We played guys like Benayoun in the center of midfield when we were short of numbers, while guys like Chalobah were making shockwaves in the Championship.

But hey.. It's only the Championship right? The level of quality isn't Premier League etc, etc. The old cliches.

So the decision to loan out Chalobah was bad because we gave Benayoun 9 appearances this season? Benayoun and Chalobah don't even play the same position, you shouldn't even be comparing them. So are you saying that you'd rather let Chalobah rot on the bench than him having a whole season of playing time to develop himself? Wow.

People are disappointed that a 20 year old hasn't exactly lit the world up with his performances and then go ahead and use that as a yardstick to beat the board with, saying the board have no patience/time to develop our youngsters. May I suggest that it's you that don't have the patience or time? Wanting a 20 year old who was 19 at the start of the season to be given games here and there instead of getting a full season at a decent level under their belt is nonsensical in my opinion.

Why people are saying the club failed with Josh when the guy's only 20 and still has plenty of years to develop left I will never know.

[Leif 6,006]

Why is it the club's fault when it comes to McEachran but not the fault of the club when it comes to Kakuta?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

The club sent him to Swansea; wasn't good enough to get in the team.

The club sends him to Middlesborough; was unanimously rubbish for 75% of the season.

Chalobah went to a Championship side and looked one of their best players and he's like 3 years younger. Josh isn't good enough. End of story I'm afraid.

Unanimously rubbish? He's played 38 games for them. If anything, they've recognized his talent. There's no proof he's not good enough, the only proof that exists is that the club failed to nurture his raw talent, as they've done with most youth players since John Terry broke through.

[Start 22]

I had very big expectations for Josh, especially under Carlo. I just don't know what happened.

Hope to god he has an incredibly strong U21's tournament (though he looked shite tonight) and somehow, Mourinho brings him along for pre-season and notices his talent. A Nath Chalobah and Josh McEachran in midfield running things, imagine. :eyebrows:

Need's to get on them weights like, thought a 12 year old ran onto the pitch in tonight's game.

[The Skipper 20,609]

There's no proof he's not good enough, the only proof that exists is that the club failed to nurture his raw talent, as they've done with most youth players since John Terry broke through.

When was the last time a big English club truly nurtured an academy player into a world class player? Apart from Jack Wilshere, there's none. It's a problem amongst big clubs in England, not just at Chelsea.

Our academy has come leaps and bounds since Roman has come and it takes time for results to come through. You need to be patient - we've actually got better talents than those from around 10 years ago coming through simply because of the restructuring that has taken place under Roman and there's every chance a talent like Chalobah and even Josh (who's only 20 remember) can be part of the squad. I think we're better off than most big clubs academy wise as anyone who even kept the vaguest of interests in our youth would know.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Do you mean you're disappointed that he isn't nurturing into that world class player everyone thought he'd be (at 20 years old)

I'm not saying he should be "world-class" by now. I'm saying the club has failed to help him improve his ability. They've shipped him out, with great reluctance initially, and it seems as if he's not being considered a player who will be involved in the main squad this season with the amount of transfers we're being linked with.

How old were Henderson, Shelvey and Cleverley when they "broke through" to their respective first teams? The club haven't been criminal to considering Josh, I mean Ancelotti blooded him at a young age and then we sent him out on loan so he could gain experience - problem is that Josh hasn't had the desired effect at the clubs he's been loaned at. You can't solely blame the club on that. Josh is only 20 years old, tell me, what were the aforementioned doing at his age?

These players were being nurtured internally and going on loan in places that needed these type of players. When we sent Josh to Swansea it was an awful decision, he was never going to displace those guys who were being compared to Xavi & Iniesta (LMAO) under Rogers.

Are you forgetting his loan spell at Swansea, clearly a PL club? At what age did Cleverley go out on loan to Wigan? You're over-exaggerating the whole situation - again trying to lay all the blame on the club and allowing Josh to walk away even though he hasn't set the world alight at either Swansea or Middlesborough.

As I've explained before, Swansea was no place to send McEachran. He couldn't displace their midfield, it was impossible. Rogers didn't need McEachran when we sent him there and all he needed was the manager at Chelsea to back him. Do you know that under Carlo, Josh made 17 appearances for the club? At Swansea, the season after, he made 5. And he only made 5 when there was an injury to someone like Britton.

Tell me, how many other big clubs fielded English U21 this season? United? Phil Jones - bought for £15m+. Nick Powell - again brought in at around £6m and still barely played. City? Jack Rodwell (22 now) who again was bought for £15m and still only made a handful of appearances. Arsenal? AOC - again bought for a high fee. Tottenham? None that I know of. I don't know why you're trying to blame CFC for that when it's clearly the situation across all big teams.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22738219

Chelsea, Manchester City, Wigan and Stoke are the only clubs that fielded 0 u21 players last season. We can forget about the rest because that's not what this discussion is about. Yes Manchester United paid £15million for Phil Jones, but we were always in the hunt to try and sign him as well. The point isn't even about fees paid, because if Josh wasn't a Chelsea player then he'd get signed for those sums too. We get excited over players like Luke Shaw while we have people like Ryan Bertrand on our books and then we complain.

So the decision to loan out Chalobah was bad because we gave Benayoun 9 appearances this season? Benayoun and Chalobah don't even play the same position, you shouldn't even be comparing them. So are you saying that you'd rather let Chalobah rot on the bench than him having a whole season of playing time to develop himself? Wow.

People are disappointed that a 20 year old hasn't exactly lit the world up with his performances and then go ahead and use that as a yardstick to beat the board with, saying the board have no patience/time to develop our youngsters. May I suggest that it's you that don't have the patience or time? Wanting a 20 year old who was 19 at the start of the season to be given games here and there instead of getting a full season at a decent level under their belt is nonsensical in my opinion.

Why people are saying the club failed with Josh when the guy's only 20 and still has plenty of years to develop left I will never know.

Because you have to understand that Josh has been with the club since he was a child. He's seen all these players come and go. He's seen the likes of Robert Huth, Michael Macinenne and Bruma having to move on because they got no chances in the Chelsea team. You want to know why?

"Josh got his chance when Carlo was there, and played a few games under him. Now it's at a stage when the club is under pressure and the club need to play their big names and unfortunately there is not a place for him in the squad." - Chalboah said this. Even he recognizes that it's impossible to get into this squad if you don't have a value of more than £15million at Chelsea.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

When was the last time a big English club truly nurtured an academy player into a world class player? Apart from Jack Wilshere, there's none. It's a problem amongst big clubs in England, not just at Chelsea.

Our academy has come leaps and bounds since Roman has come and it takes time for results to come through. You need to be patient - we've actually got better talents than those from around 10 years ago coming through simply because of the restructuring that has taken place under Roman and there's every chance a talent like Chalobah and even Josh (who's only 20 remember) can be part of the squad. I think we're better off than most big clubs academy wise as anyone who even kept the vaguest of interests in our youth would know.

The problem is keeping hold of these players. We can offer them as many lucrative contracts as we want, to try and keep them with us, but the longer it takes the club to bring through someone, the more disillusioned these guys are going to get. I don't think it's accurate to claim it's come 'leaps and bounds' because we have no proof. No-ones benefited.

[Start 22]

I do agree with LDN Blue if i'm honest, I mean it was rather silly to send Josh to a Swansea that was playing incredibly well and playing some rather impressive football. Rodgers was never going to break his love for Britton and Allen now was he.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I do agree with LDN Blue if i'm honest, I mean it was rather silly to send Josh to a Swansea that was playing incredibly well and playing some rather impressive football. Rodgers was never going to break his love for Britton and Allen now was he.

Major flaw of the loan system. Clubs need to keep an eye on how much game time/progress loanees are making and should exercise options to recall them if it's been perceived as a waste of time.

[Start 22]

Major flaw of the loan system. Clubs need to keep an eye on how much game time/progress loanees are making and should exercise options to recall them if it's been perceived as a waste of time.

I agree, If we was going to loan McEachran out at first at least do it to a club where he'll get 25+ games and is almost guaranteed a starting spot. Chalobah is a perfect example of how it's worked this year.

[Leif 6,006]

Does anyone else think his skin and sometimes overly defined cheekbones gives off the impression he may do cocaine on the weekends?

[Start 22]

Does anyone else think his skin and sometimes overly defined cheekbones gives off the impression he may do cocaine on the weekends?

Haha! My mate said something similar to this the other day.

[The Skipper 20,609]

I'm not saying he should be "world-class" by now. I'm saying the club has failed to help him improve his ability. They've shipped him out, with great reluctance initially, and it seems as if he's not being considered a player who will be involved in the main squad this season with the amount of transfers we're being linked with.

These players were being nurtured internally and going on loan in places that needed these type of players. When we sent Josh to Swansea it was an awful decision, he was never going to displace those guys who were being compared to Xavi & Iniesta (LMAO) under Rogers.

Chuckled at the Xavi and Iniesta bit but I disagree that the club "failed" - there's a lot more to it than that. The Swansea loan was bad in hindsight but the idea behind it was good in my opinion - Rodgers has coached Josh before if I remember correctly, Swansea play the type of football that Josh should flourish under if used correctly - I'm sure CFC loaned him out with the intention that Swansea would play him frequently but Swansea hit form and Rodgers wasn't up for changing a team that was doing so well. Retrospectively, they should have perhaps called him back but that again depends on whether the manager would've used him or not.

I think the club did the best they could with Josh simply because we didn't have a solid, stable manager at the helm. It looks like that's changing under JM so I do have a tiny bit of hope for Josh - I think he can actually play a decent squad role for us next season, and if he hit the ground running in preseason he can easily get around 20 appearances which would be a good season for him I think.

As I've explained before, Swansea was no place to send McEachran. He couldn't displace their midfield, it was impossible. Rogers didn't need McEachran when we sent him there and all he needed was the manager at Chelsea to back him. Do you know that under Carlo, Josh made 17 appearances for the club? At Swansea, the season after, he made 5. And he only made 5 when there was an injury to someone like Britton.

I think my point above answers your point here again.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22738219

Chelsea, Manchester City, Wigan and Stoke are the only clubs that fielded 0 u21 players last season. We can forget about the rest because that's not what this discussion is about. Yes Manchester United paid £15million for Phil Jones, but we were always in the hunt to try and sign him as well. The point isn't even about fees paid, because if Josh wasn't a Chelsea player then he'd get signed for those sums too. We get excited over players like Luke Shaw while we have people like Ryan Bertrand on our books and then we complain.

It's a problem across the whole of English football. For us, it had more to do with us loaning out our best English U21 players because we felt it'd be better for them to have playing time - it has worked for Chalobah well, but Josh has struggled a bit - I still think Josh will come away this season learning a lot more at Middlesborough then he would've last season at CFC even if he didn't really have a good season - it's a learning curve for him and I know I keep banging on about this but he is only 20 after all, he still has plenty of time.

Because you have to understand that Josh has been with the club since he was a child. He's seen all these players come and go. He's seen the likes of Robert Huth, Michael Macinenne and Bruma having to move on because they got no chances in the Chelsea team. You want to know why?

"Josh got his chance when Carlo was there, and played a few games under him. Now it's at a stage when the club is under pressure and the club need to play their big names and unfortunately there is not a place for him in the squad." - Chalboah said this. Even he recognizes that it's impossible to get into this squad if you don't have a value of more than £15million at Chelsea.

Again, this is more due to the fact that we never had any stable manager when those you've mentioned came through. I think that's about to change though simply because I do have a feeling that JM is staying for quite some time now which will allow him to blood some of the youngsters coming through now, whom I do think are far more talented than the likes of Mancienne or Bruma.

The problem is keeping hold of these players. We can offer them as many lucrative contracts as we want, to try and keep them with us, but the longer it takes the club to bring through someone, the more disillusioned these guys are going to get. I don't think it's accurate to claim it's come 'leaps and bounds' because we have no proof. No-ones benefited.

No one's benefitted yet - our academy is in my opinion a lot better than it was 10 years ago, and it takes time and the right environment before these changes can be seen to the naked eye. I honestly think that time is nearing us very soon, you can tell that Roman and the club are far more geared towards developing young players now so naturally they will have a tendency to look at the academy more often than they have over the last view years.

[Leif 6,006]

I think the club didn't pick the best loans for him but had really thought out the Swansea move with good intentions since they're a passing team and he's a passing player. It didn't work out, they instantly assumed "okay he's clearly not ready for this level" and probably bit the hand off the first Championship team to show an interest in him who'd play him often.

I don't think he would have got enough playing time at somewhere like Brighton, but they probably would have been the ideal team for him had he been slotted into the Starting XI.

Now we just have to think about the future. I personally feel he's still not ready for us simply because of his lack of work rate, so I'd like to loan him to a pressing team. A pressing and passing team. But where would he get that? I'm clueless.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I'm really disappointed with the club at the way McEachran hasn't been nurtured properly.

I mean it's saying a hell of a lot when guys like Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey &, worst of all, Tom Cleverly were allowed time and patience at their respective clubs and saw the fruition of it. Henderson even went on record to say that McEachran was a technically better player than Jack Wilshere is.

The club have a massive part to play in the damage done in not enhancing McEachran's career. There's no way Cleverly should be loaned out to a Premier League club like Wigan, when he was making his rise, and McEachran gets sent to Middlesbrough. Forgotten about.

This argument isn't even about whether McEachran as an individual, it's not about his work ethic or anything. It's about the club willing to spend millions on other players, fringe players, and then send these kids away and not even keeping a track on them.

It's embarrassing that Chelsea fielded 0 English u21's this season. We played guys like Benayoun in the center of midfield when we were short of numbers, while guys like Chalobah were making shockwaves in the Championship.

But hey.. It's only the Championship right? The level of quality isn't Premier League etc, etc. The old cliches.

Give me a break, clutching at straws and maybe not even. How about throwing some responsibility his way? How about kids who end up at top teams after the age of 20? How did they get good enough without millions backing them?

All Chelsea can do is give him opportunities to succeed and they've given him plenty. The rest is up to him.

[Spike 12,049]

The club sent him to Swansea; wasn't good enough to get in the team.

The club sends him to Middlesborough; was unanimously rubbish for 75% of the season.

Chalobah went to a Championship side and looked one of their best players and he's like 3 years younger. Josh isn't good enough. End of story I'm afraid.

Josh is and was good enough to get into that Swansea midfield over the likes of Britton, Allen and the other guy I always forget. Rodgers is just an idiot that was too afraid to put him in the first time for the sake of 'consistency'. All the blame for McEachran's failure at Swansea is Rodger's.

At Middlesborough he earned brilliant reviews while being played as a CM; which you know is his natural position. But Mowbray had a spark of a brilliant idea and moved Josh out wide to the left. He doesn't have the pace nor the physicality to play as a winger. Why did Mowbray do this?

At the end of the day though, Josh has to accept that he could have maybe done more to get into the first teams at all his clubs.