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One of these days, we'll get to talk about Josh McEachran without having to mention physicality. That day is not today.
The 20-year-old (still just 20!) midfielder, now on his fourth loan spell away from Chelsea, has yet to start for Rösler's Wigan side, but he does have three substitute appearances, the latest of which on Tuesday lasted 55 minutes. McEachran entered the match in the 20th minute after Ben Watson was stretchered off with what later proved to be double-break of his leg (fibula and tibia), but lasted only until the 75th minute. The reason behind Wigan substituting the substitute? Physicality.
"Josh came on against Barnsley and took five or 10 minutes to settle in, but I thought he played very well. Everything went through him down that left-hand side, and we looked a dangerous team going forward."
"In the second half, for one reason or another, we passed the ball around the back four a lot but we never really got Josh involved. They marked him out of the game, they tried to run over our midfield, they brought on another forward and went long at every opportunity."
"We couldn't get Josh on the ball, and I just felt I needed to bring on a little bit more energy and physicality to cope with their approach."
"That doesn't mean I was disappointed with Josh's contribution. I was delighted with the way he got on the ball and I know our supporters appreciate him as much as I do."
-Uwe Rösler; source: Wigan Today
Same old story then with young Josh. Plenty of skill, plenty of vision (see his through ball to Marc-Antoine Fortuné against Charlton at the 1:35 mark of this video), but still lacking that oft-important physicality.
Fortunately, Rösler looks to be a big fan who's ready to give the boy plenty of chances. Here's hoping he's the man to unlock the next level of McEachran's development.
