As far as I'm concerned he should've been starting alongside Williamson. It's not a stellar partnership but I think it's the best from what we have. As for the physical stuff, I don't think he was that weak. No more so than Coloccini really who regularly gets bested in that department pretty much every game but seems to be immune to criticism. And as mentioned, that's one of the easiest things to improve as a player. Just get him in the gym. It's much more difficult to teach actual footballing ability which is something he has.