Player Profile: Kiernan Dewbury-Hall

Lets have a brief look at our newest recruit.......

Good Morning Ladies and Gents,

Firstly, I think a lot of Chelsea fans are being very snobby and negative about KDH, he’s an excellent player and more importantly than that he’s a Chelsea player now, so lets support him like any other…..

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

Player profile;

Age: 25

Nationality: English

Position: Centre Midfielder

Height: 5ft 11in

Summary;

He is a left footed traditional number 8, box to box, good goal involvement numbers, loves a tackle but that is not necessarily a feature of his game (an area he can work on) and having the option of a left footed centre midfielder brings a nice balance to the squad.

He knows Maresca and his system already so will hopefully help the bridge between the complete change at the club.

Style of play;

His numbers (albeit in the championship) are phenomenal and with better players in the premier league he can really flourish.

These stats show you how creative he is, how attacking he is, hoe much he touches the ball on the final third and in attacking phases. Something I touched on when discussing Maresca weeks ago, you won’t see him play many little one-twos or backwards/sideways passes, purely because he doesn’t really want/ask for the ball in the middle third, purely because he is instructed to find pockets and get on the ball in dangerous areas and create, these numbers completely describe that.

That’s the way Maresca likes his advanced 8’s to play, his touches in the attacking 3rd and touches in pen area are insane for a number 8, as are his carries into final 3rd and pen area.

There are definite weaknesses in his game but they are rarely highlighted in this system due to his attacking ability and what he will be asked to do. He will be far from a guaranteed starter (especially at the beginning) but he will be an excellent option to have in the squad.

A couple of clips below that are worth watching;

I have attached one video of his Championship season and also one of his Premier League career to date to give you an overall viewing of him as a player.

Verdict;

I was completely up for this transfer last summer and still am today, I am a big fan of the player and feel he has some valuable assets to his game that can help the team flourish. His goal and assists numbers are good too.

People will say well he’s only done it in a lesser league or whatever but he passes the eye test if you watch him and that is as important as any other. He had 27 goal involvements in the Championship last season which is 12 more than Omari Hutchinson in the same division and A LOT of people were heavily suggesting Omari was involved in the first team this season, cant have your cake and eat it. (that’s not a comparison on player ability)

I think this is another decent signing for Chelsea effectively a £20m fee once we receive the funds from Michael Golding (shame to lose him, would have been extremely tough for him to ever break through). That means we have paid 10m under KDH’s apparent market value, I would say its another shrewd signing for a midfielder with good goal involvement numbers moving to a better team/club.

He seems to me like one of these players who will be better around better players, that is an assumption and needs to be tested but I think a really good squad player, who knows the system inside out and a fairly good fee, overall a good deal in my view.

Luke Rushbrook