Josh McEachran

[We Hate Scouse 10,286]

Did anyone l know he is dating Jessie j?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/tv/2011/06/14/coronation-street-star-brooke-vincent-swoops-for-chelsea-s-josh-mceachran-115875-23199858/

Blimey he gets around!

[ruggedknot 105]

Matt Law from the Daily Express on his twitter :

http://twitter.com/#!/mattlawexpress

Hearing josh mceachran has agreed a new long-term contract at chelsea. It's taken them a while but great news for the club. Brilliant talent

If its true , This should fall in line with the policy of the 5 and a half year contracts we have been dishing lately , possibly even longer With Josh given his particular case of having been with us since basically forever . Curious that the deal was done after AVB has been around for a while as well , the offer must've certainly gone past his desk as an approval as well.

Fantastic news .

[magic weeds 446]

Matt Lawton from the Daily Express on his twitter :

If its true , This should fall in line with the policy of the 5 and a half year contracts we have been dishing lately , possibly even longer With Josh given his particular case of having been with us since basically forever . Curious that the deal was done after AVB has been around for a while as well , the offer must've certainly gone past his desk as an approval as well.

Fantastic news .

Great news indeed. with Josh, PvA, Kakuta, Luiz on long term deals, this is fantastic.

[ZanSnake 1,211]

Watching thee above video, really does seem like a true Chelsea blue.

Can't wait to see what AVB has for him in the future

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

5 Year deal!

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2393457,00.html

[Styles 9,790]

New deal and new teeth! McEachran

[Joker10 946]

Does anybody know why Josh is played as holding midfielder in preseason?

[ZanSnake 1,211]

Does anybody know why Josh is played as holding midfielder in preseason?

Think AVB is testing him as the second option due to Essien's injury

[Sheva. 5,373]

Mikel is the only DM on the tour atm.

AVB keeps changing teams each half, so someone else has to play there - Josh

[Kostas 1,468]

Hopefully for the same reasons Ancelotti did, less pressure, less risk and more time on the ball. He's also probably more suited to the defensive mid role than any other midfielder apart from Mikel.

[magic weeds 446]

Mikel is the only DM on the tour atm.

AVB keeps changing teams each half, so someone else has to play there - Josh

hence the reason why we are buying Oriol Romeu. push josh further foward

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Mikel is the only DM on the tour atm.

AVB keeps changing teams each half, so someone else has to play there - Josh

I hope you're right.

Even Drummy said last season Josh is wasted (not his exact words) in that roll. I'm sure he'll be telling Villas-Boas all about Josh's attacking abilities.

[Sheva. 5,373]

I hope you're right.

Even Drummy said last season Josh is wasted (not his exact words) in that roll. I'm sure he'll be telling Villas-Boas all about Josh's attacking abilities.

I think i am

Here are the midfielders in Asia currently - Mikel, Josh, Frank, Yossi, Clifford and Zhirkov (a winger, but he has been playing in midfield)

Only Mikel and Josh can play there.

[Joker10 946]

I guess that makes sense.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Without focusing on Josh, Josh is an amazing British talent for the future, as is Chalobah, as is Billy Clifford and Jamal, he will be able to go on a run like Patrick and Ryan, with plenty of experience in the Premiership or the Championship. Josh has played in the Champions League and so it is all positive for the young boys that we have.

Josh just has to be competitive and show he is the best, like all the others, and in the end we make choices on who is performing better and helping the collective to perform. When it gets to the season the choices will be done like that and with the injuries you might have, there will be plenty of opportunities for everybody, but they must be able to compete to be in the starting 11.

Nice to hear. But saying it is one thing, doing it is another, as we all learned last season

[Guest justin_3d]

Nice to hear. But saying it is one thing, doing it is another, as we all learned last season

I wonder how our youth would have done if he was with us last season.

Cause just last season we let go of Stoch, Sinclair, Matic and Borini. Transfer that i was sad with.

I think my fav. was Matic, and was so sad to see him go.

If i remember Chelsea where trying to give Benfica either Matic or Rajkovic to Benfica.

They took Matic.

And Rajkovic for Chelsea in this pre-season has impress. I hope AVB keeps him.

I really believe our youth has been mishandled in the past few seasons.

Hopefully with AVB we will see an improvement.

[Billy. 2,742]

Has anyone got a HQ picture of his face i wanna do a VP on fifa and all the ones i fond are rubbish

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Josh McEachran's promise gives Chelsea hope of a balanced future

Chelsea are growing used to accusations that theirs is an ageing squad in urgent need of rejuvenation. The latest was delivered over the weekend by Sir Alex Ferguson, surveying the early days of the André Villas-Boas tenure from distant Chicago, so it felt strangely appropriate that the first hint of a riposte was promptly delivered on the other side of the world by a rising young talent in the London club's ranks.

Josh McEachran, at 18, had offered evidence last season that he could become this club's Jack Wilshere. His tidy passing impressed in cameos across the competitions, with the five-year contract signed on the eve of the team's Asian tour just reward for the progress he has made. Now integrated fully into the senior squad, and a starter again in the 4-0 defeat of a Thailand All Stars XI on Sunday, he offers constant glimpses of what awaits this team. Not all in their number are seasoned.

There was composure in possession and one neat reverse pass here that particularly caught the eye, liberating a rampaging Branislav Ivanovic to sprint into enemy territory and slide in Chelsea's third and most impressive goal. Villas-Boas described McEachran as "an amazing British talent for the future" in the aftermath, with his continued progress presumably a key part of bridging eras in the long-term reinvention of this team.

"Josh offers flexibility," said the manager. "I don't want to focus a lot on one player, but it's all in his brain. He anticipates problems and has that speed of thought, that kind of capacity to anticipate things." Wilshere boasts those same qualities at Arsenal. McEachran will still need to be physically stronger to thrive, but his raw talent is reassuring.

Ferguson had been assessing the challengers to Manchester United's title when he pinpointed Chelsea as "the most experienced team in the Premier League", praise he tempered by warning they are approaching an "evolutionary stage and the new manager hasn't signed anyone yet, so that will be a bit of a concern". But, although nine of the first-team squad are over 30, what progress Chelsea have made in the market has been in recruiting the next generation. Thibault Courtois, the goalkeeper signed from Genk, is 19, as is the midfielder Oriol Romeu, who is en route from Barcelona B. They also hope to add Romelu Lukaku, 18, from Anderlecht. Integrate these players into the first team over the next two seasons and that ageist accusation will seem less appropriate.

The United manager had said the same three years ago, when Luiz Felipe Scolari was settling into the manager's position at Stamford Bridge. That the senior personnel remain virtually identical is revealing. But, for now, Villas-Boas is unconcerned. His own policy, he claims, is "wise". The reality is that Chelsea remain no closer to securing their most lavish transfer target, Luka Modric. Should the impasse remain for much longer with Tottenham Hotspur, then Villas-Boas is likely to seek instead to return to his former club for his compatriot João Moutinho as a pedigree alternative.

There remains a lack of invention and speed in the pass to this midfield, with McEachran learning and the forward line – Fernando Torres chief among them – craving slicker service. The tempo will improve with fitness, but the thrashing of the Thailand All Stars, a concoction of players from the local Premier division hastily bundled together, revealed very little. Thrusting on eight substitutes just after the hour against the tiring home players gave the scoreline a gloss that the first-half performance had hardly merited. Their play was still stodgy at times. It said much that McEachran's poise and passing were what chiefly drew the focus.

The squad will continue their energy-sapping pre-season in Hong Kong as of Monday with the manager insistent the elder statesmen, upon whom he will still rely, will cope with the rigours ahead. "You just have to respect the recovery periods needed for those players who are older in the squad," said Villas-Boas.

"Chelsea are the second or third oldest team in the Premier League but, again, look at the trophies these players have won and how successful they have been. We are looking to find the correct balance between experience and youth, that is all. These players have a lot to offer."

http://www.guardian....+%28Football%29

Positive.