| Full name | Joshua Mark McEachran | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 March 1993 | ||
| Place of birth | Oxford, England | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
Joshua Mark "Josh" McEachran (born 1 March 1993 in Oxford, England) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea.
Early life
McEachran was born in Oxford to Scottish parents.[2] He began playing football for Garden City F.C. in the Oxford Mail Boys League, where he was spotted by a Chelsea scout.[3] He then joined the Blues as an academy player at the age of 8 and rose through the ranks while juggling his academic responsibilities at Marlborough School in Woodstock.[4]Club career
Chelsea
McEachran made his competitive first team debut for Chelsea against MŠK Žilina on 15 September 2010 as a substitute.[5] He became the first player to be born after the UEFA Champions League started on 25 November 1992 to take part in the competition.[5][6] McEachran made his home debut in a League Cup tie against Newcastle United, where he again came on as a substitute.He made his Premier League debut on 25 September in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.[7] On 23 November 2010 manager Carlo Ancelotti announced that McEachran would make his first start against MŠK Žilina in which he did. He followed this up by playing the entire game away to Marseille in a UEFA Champions League group game.
McEachran started for Chelsea against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on 15 May 2011. His inclusion in the line-up was viewed by pundits as a suggestion that the Chelsea administration are keen to retain McEachran and that they recognise the importance of younger players in an otherwise ageing team.[8] He then came off the bench to make his ninth league appearance away to Everton F.C. in the final game of the 2010-11 Premier League season.[9] In his debut season in the Chelsea first team, McEachran was awarded the Chelsea Young Player of The Year award on 19 May 2011.[10]
On 15 July 2011, he signed a new five-year deal, alongside team-mate Ryan Bertrand who signed a four-year deal with Chelsea.[11] He scored his first Chelsea senior team goal against Aston Villa with a first minute tap-in to open the scoring. Chelsea went on to win the game 2-0 and win the Barclays Asia Trophy. On 12 August 2011, Chelsea announced he would wear the number 20 shirt, last worn by Deco, for the 2011/12 season.
International career
McEachran represented England at U-16 level and was part of the England U17 side to win the 2010 European Under-17 Football Championship. He quickly progressed through the ranks and has since gone on to become a regular in the England U19 side and was further rewarded for his good early season form with Chelsea's first team by making his debut for England U21 against Germany on 16 November 2010 at the age of just 17.Style of play
Former Chelsea player and former Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins recalled the first time he laid eyes on McEachran saying: "A couple of years back, when I had just joined Chelsea, I was watching an Under-17 match between us and Racing, a club side from Argentina. Josh was playing, despite only being 15; I'd never seen him play before, but in the first half he cut inside someone and played an inch-perfect pass inside the full-back. I turned to the other Chelsea coaches next to me and said, 'That's Liam Brady!' It was the biggest compliment I could think of at the time." Stuart Pearce, the England national football team under-21 manager, praised McEachran after a friendly against Italy. He said, "Chelsea think extremely highly of him (Josh) and you can see why. He's got the ability and the vision that you know, if players run off of him, he's got the ability to find them with passes. All of our cutting passes probably came from him. I think, in Josh, he's got a really outstanding talent, similar to Jack Wilshere, and it bodes well for us."Under the management of Carlo Ancelotti, McEachran was deployed mainly as a defensive midfielder in his appearances for the first team, usually replacing Michael Essien or John Obi Mikel, although his preferred position is as a centre or attacking midfielder.
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