2025/26 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

[JobForTheMoyes]

His heat map doesn’t look like that of a number 10. It’s more like an inside left forward-midfielder hybrid. More of a way to support Grealish without the luxury of a good attacking left back.

 

[Zatara]

Well no his value certainly wouldn't have increased, but i doubt O'briens has either cos he's stuck in a position not tailored to his game.

I think everyone is in the same boat when it comes to his positioning, it just differs when some of us see a good player their..

I'd say O'Brien would be someone that clubs could offer over £20mil for and apparently we signed him for somewhere between £17-22mil (according to the net).

I wouldnt say his value would have dropped from there, while I'd say KDH we wouldnt get our money back based on his games as a 10.

His heat map doesn’t look like that of a number 10. It’s more like an inside left forward-midfielder hybrid. More of a way to support Grealish without the luxury of a good attacking left back.

It would be interesting to know which players his passes are aimed towards.

For me, he's looked like focusing on Grealish. He popped up on the right a few times last match and seemed to go back/sideways but i may have imagined it.

 

[LiamMadrid]

He definitely has some good skills but I don't know why we signed him, we already had midfielders and we needed a right bank and another striker. Don't know who decided to pay big money for him, Barry and Aznou?

 

[Nymzee]

He definitely has some good skills but I don't know why we signed him, we already had midfielders and we needed a right bank and another striker. Don't know who decided to pay big money for him, Barry and Aznou?

We needed midfielders AND we needed a RB and striker. We needed a lot of things this Summer but we didn’t quite get them all.

 

[Curtis]

I think having KDH play as a 10 is actually a detriment to one of assets which he can carry the ball the problem as a ten when he reaches opposing box he slows down and just holds onto the ball or slowly shifts it, but if he's further back he can actually help build momentum to the game and he's decent off the ball so why have him so advanced? As someone else mentioned Gana has been in been positions where the ball falls to him when he circling the box in one of our fruitless attacks and id much rather it be KDH which the opportunity to shoot or pass then gana as he is can be technically sound passer as well just lacks the gusto of Alcarez.

 

[Tommy Chong]

I think having KDH play as a 10 is actually a detriment to one of assets which he can carry the ball the problem as a ten when he reaches opposing box he slows down and just holds onto the ball or slowly shifts it, but if he's further back he can actually help build momentum to the game and he's decent off the ball so why have him so advanced? As someone else mentioned Gana has been in been positions where the ball falls to him when he circling the box in one of our fruitless attacks and id much rather it be KDH which the opportunity to shoot or pass then gana as he is can be technically sound passer as well just lacks the gusto of Alcarez.

So maybe drop him deeper next to Gana, and play Alcarez as our No. 10?

 

[Raino85]

Disagree myself mate, i dont think hes good enough defensively, he might get you up the pitch a bit like Osman used to, but hes not a great blend with the current midfield pivot.

Can he play there, sure but he's not optimal.

We actually need presence in central midfield at the moment in my opinion and that's Rohl.

Hes better in advanced positions then in the engine room, if we had a different blend in midfield then he could play the old Osman role.

Hence the defensive midfielder

 

[toffeeblue9]

So maybe drop him deeper next to Gana, and play Alcarez as our No. 10?

He wouldn't be great as one of a midfield two

Ideally you play a 433 and play KDH as the left-sided number 8, which is where all the best form of his career has been

Personally I'd like to see a 433 with Garner moving back to left back (Mykolenko has been practically playing as another centre mid in possession anyway), Gana holding and Rohl and KDH as the number 8s

 

[Neiler]

Hence the defensive midfielder

Again mate, you don’t just play with a defensive midfielder and then no one else suddenly needs not to defend. We have two already at the moment and are struggling to defend.

 

[Raino85]

Again mate, you don’t just play with a defensive midfielder and then no one else suddenly needs not to defend. We have two already at the moment and are struggling to defend.

He can get behind the ball and back into position.

Are main problem being able to defend is coming from the gaps between the Centre backs and full backs.

Until we improve the full back positions this is all a pointless conversation

 

[Lanolin]

Only just realised the context of this, that's quite a wild take even by big oil standards.

I think what he's saying in general is true, lots of players will believe that they're better in a particular position but it doesn't necessarily mean they are. I know Heitinga believed his best position was central midfield but I doubt anyone who ever saw him play there would agree. I haven't seen enough of KDH in central midfield to know whether it applies to him, but the basic idea of a player not always being the best judge of where they should play is a fair shout.

 

[Neiler]

He can get behind the ball and back into position.

Are main problem being able to defend is coming from the gaps between the Centre backs and full backs.

Until we improve the full back positions this is all a pointless conversation

I dont think are existing two are good enough or he is good enough defensively.

We have a problem at full back as we know, more so this year as we arent playing our wingers as covering full back so they are more open - thats a big problem.

But a bigger problem is the space between our defensive line and our definitive midfielder's - KDH deeper doesn't help that, id have Rohl there before him.

 

[Zatara]

I think having KDH play as a 10 is actually a detriment to one of assets which he can carry the ball the problem as a ten when he reaches opposing box he slows down and just holds onto the ball or slowly shifts it, but if he's further back he can actually help build momentum to the game and he's decent off the ball so why have him so advanced? As someone else mentioned Gana has been in been positions where the ball falls to him when he circling the box in one of our fruitless attacks and id much rather it be KDH which the opportunity to shoot or pass then gana as he is can be technically sound passer as well just lacks the gusto of Alcarez.

It was me who said that about KDH & Gana. Both occupy similar positions when in the LCM role and I found the signing strange with Gana doing so well.

I dont think are existing two are good enough or he is good enough defensively.

We have a problem at full back as we know, more so this year as we arent playing our wingers as covering full back so they are more open - thats a big problem.

But a bigger problem is the space between our defensive line and our definitive midfielder's - KDH deeper doesn't help that, id have Rohl there before him.

Cant do anything about this until the club brings in more defensive players with pace (Aznou/Branthwaite) and/or we play with a proper anchor in midfield.

 

[Simon Buttle]

I think what he's saying in general is true, lots of players will believe that they're better in a particular position but it doesn't necessarily mean they are. I know Heitinga believed his best position was central midfield but I doubt anyone who ever saw him play there would agree. I haven't seen enough of KDH in central midfield to know whether it applies to him, but the basic idea of a player not always being the best judge of where they should play is a fair shout.

Maybe but players tend to say that because that's where they feel most comfortable playing, putting them out of position where they don't feel comfortable is not going to get the best out of players, Alcaraz being an example as he can literally only play in the middle as that's where he is comfortable. Tbh I have been thinking a bit about this since yesterday and its an interesting topic of debate.

 

[Nymzee]

Maybe but players tend to say that because that's where they feel most comfortable playing, putting them out of position where they don't feel comfortable is not going to get the best out of players, Alcaraz being an example as he can literally only play in the middle as that's where he is comfortable. Tbh I have been thinking a bit about this since yesterday and its an interesting topic of debate.

If he'd have said "my best position is a centre half" then sure, people can call him out on it.

For him to say "my best/favourite position is as a box-to-box 8", which is what he played pretty much all 23/24 season to earn his Chelsea move, and be basically called wrong by a buggy alpha version of the Matrix sat in his chair in America is absolutely mental, not interesting.