“Why don’t you ask why he’s not in the England squad?”
That was the question one of the Hill Dickinson Stadium security guards posed to journalists last Saturday as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was finishing up his post-match media duties.
The Everton midfielder’s response was one of mock indignation at the omission; a wry smile, then a shrug in the direction of the assembled media members, before he disappeared down the players’ tunnel.
It is unlikely to be the last time the 27-year-old’s international aspirations are raised this season.
Dewsbury-Hall may well be in the form of his life.
Born in the English city of Nottingham and raised in Leicestershire, the former Leicester City and Chelsea player has already rejected overtures from the Republic of Ireland — who he qualifies for through his family background — and informed club captain and Ireland mainstay Seamus Coleman of his desire to represent the country of his birth. Dewsbury-Hall has not yet been capped at any level by either nation.
Achieving an England senior squad spot in a season that ends with the World Cup will be a tall order, given the depth of midfield talent available to head coach Thomas Tuchel. But Dewsbury-Hall’s performances warrant attention. With less than six months to go until the tournament kicks off in the United States, Canada and Mexico, those dreams are not looking that far-fetched.
“I’m probably feeling the best I’ve ever felt, and the way I’m playing is up there with the best I’ve played,” he told reporters after last weekend’s 3-0 home win against Nottingham Forest, a game in which he scored one goal and assisted another.
“I’m starting to find my rhythm. You have a couple of average games and everyone starts saying stuff. But you have to remember there are a lot of new players, including me, getting used to a new team, a new stadium, a new environment. It can take time, but I’m starting to properly settle and enjoy myself.”
Dewsbury-Hall’s £25million ($33m at current exchange rates) summer move from Chelsea appears to have given him a new lease of life.
He won two trophies — last season’s Conference League and this summer’s Club World Cup — in his solitary year with the Londoners after leaving boyhood club Leicester, but has gone from being a bit-part player at Stamford Bridge to a key performer on Merseyside in the space of six months.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall won the Club World Cup with Chelsea but rarely played (Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)
“I don’t regret going there (Chelsea),” he said after August’s 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers. “I played a big part, so I’m happy with the year I had there. But it was the right time to move on, progress my career, and try to play regularly.
“For me to leave my previous club would have had to have been for a project, something exciting. This does feel like a fresh start. It’s shown me everything I wanted so far.”
Dewsbury-Hall began well at Everton, but he has reached new heights in the past month.
He has three goals and an assist in his past five games, earning a nomination for the Premier League’s player of the month award. His sublime consolation effort against Newcastle United (below) is also one of the league’s goal of the month contenders.
Already, he has scored more goals in an Everton shirt (four) than in his other 72 Premier League games for Leicester and Chelsea combined (three).
Such is their popularity, some fans have labelled the attacking midfield trio of Dewsbury-Hall, Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye ‘The Holy Shinity’ — a twist on the ‘Holy Trinity’ moniker used to describe the great Alan Ball, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey combination that played for Everton in the 1960s. The present-day trio all play with their socks rolled down.
Two-thirds of the ‘Holy Shinity’ (Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Dewsbury-Hall was one of nine summer additions as Everton embarked on a large-scale squad overhaul. It was always going to take some time for them to gel.
He has stepped up lately with resources stretched — playing deeper in midfield, assuming responsibility, and behaving like a senior player despite only arriving four months ago.
He is one of several individuals in the squad to have put a proverbial arm around Thierno Barry while the striker, another newcomer, has attempted to find his feet, and told the Frenchman before Saturday’s match that he would end his scoring drought. After Barry’s goal in first-half stoppage time against Forest, Dewsbury-Hall was one of the first to go over to congratulate him on breaking his duck.
Manager David Moyes has been a long-time admirer of Dewsbury-Hall and pushed for a loan from Chelsea in January, shortly after he was appointed as Sean Dyche’s replacement. His belief, outlined repeatedly in press conferences, is that the midfielder’s summer signing has helped Everton become a better side — a key aim of their summer business.
There had been suggestions from the Scot, too, during tougher moments for the team, that Dewsbury-Hall’s work was at times under-appreciated.
Not now.
Recent weeks have seen Dewsbury-Hall play in his favoured No 8 role, the one in which he cut his teeth at Leicester. The positional tweak has given him more defensive responsibility, but also helped Everton’s build-up play.
Despite some initial concerns that they would be losing a degree of physicality in midfield, he has provided energy and fight in abundance. Dewsbury-Hall is one of just two midfielders in the Premier League this season to create 20-plus chances, make 25-plus tackles, win possession 50 times and win 75 duels.
Everton have often been at their best this season when Dewsbury-Hall and Grealish, the England international on loan from Manchester City, have combined. The former has been particularly effective at progressing play through the inside-left channel and combining with his team-mates, with Nikola Milenkovic’s early own goal in the Forest match coming via that avenue. James Garner’s strike in August’s 2-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion also followed a smart Dewsbury-Hall run down the left side of the box.
His intelligent movement has added a new dimension to Everton’s attacking play, where there has been much greater focus this season on runs into the penalty area and cutbacks.
The graphic below, using SkillCorner data, shows Dewsbury-Hall’s off-ball runs.
Among midfielders in Europe’s top-five leagues with at least 10 games played, only Forest’s Elliot Anderson has made more underlapping runs (31) than his 26.
As we can see, a large proportion are those underlapping runs to the left that finish inside the penalty area. Half were made with Grealish in possession, showing how frequently the pair combine.
It has helped make Everton a more creative and varied attacking force.
Saturday sees Dewsbury-Hall return to Stamford Bridge with a resurgent Everton, who have won four of their past five league matches.
He was not born the last time Everton won there in the league (November 1994) but the motivation to end that barren run against his previous employers is obvious.
With Dewsbury-Hall in the side, Everton have already ended similar droughts, beating Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time since 2013 — despite going a man down after Idrissa Gueye’s bizarre first-half red card — and recording their first Premier League win at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium earlier this month.
“It’s a huge game for me, and I’ve got a point to prove,” Dewsbury-Hall said. “I’m so excited by it. It would be nice to go there and win.
“The Chelsea people have been lovely to me ever since I left. I had a great year there, but of course, I’m going there wanting to show what I can do. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about that, and there’s no reason I can’t.”
Hopes are high. Dewsbury-Hall is benefitting from the extra game time he’s getting at Everton and is keen to make his mark on the big stage again.
“I’m playing more than I was last season,” he added. “I feel happy here, because I’m getting an opportunity. Everyone believes in me, and I’m feeling confident. I love the spotlight. Whether it’s on me, whether it’s on anyone, it doesn’t matter. I’m just here to play football and perform.
“I’m confident going against anyone in the Premier League at the moment, and it’s a nice place to be.”
Additional contributor: Thom Harris