Leicester: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ready for first team in 2021/22

22-year-old Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is out on loan at Luton Town from Leicester City. FoL examines his performance and growth as a player.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has played once for the the Foxes’ senior team. This was on the 23rd September 2020, in the Foxes 2-0 defeat in the Carabao Cup to Arsenal. Of course, this match was a very disappointing one, though it was a defeat with some pros to it.

One of the major pros in my opinion was the arrival of Dewsbury-Hall. What a player he was, and what a talent he is. He has a lot of potential. Sofascore gave him a 7.4 rating on the day.

In that match he established himself as a true potential playmaker. KDH could either play in the number eight role – that of Youri Tielemans – or in the number 10 role – that of James Maddison. During this match, he completed 4 key passes, a 90% pass accuracy, and won all three of his ground duels with Arsenal players.

Leicester City’s star loanee

He was immense. So, why did he not stick around to be used in the senior squad in the Premier League? The answer is simple: Tielemans, Maddison, Choudhury, Praet, and even Ndidi to an extent. Leicester just has so many options who can play midfield. Speaking of which, Tielemans may be in contract talks!

Therefore, he was sent on loan to develop, get first team football, and to get ready to challenge for a senior team place. This report will identify if he is ready or not. So, let us examine his previous and current seasons, then rate his loan spell out of ten.

Previous season (2019/20)

During the previous season, KDH had two places to play: the development squad at Leicester City, and Blackpool. He had started 15 games for the under 23s in Premier League 2, just before moving out on loan to Blackpool for until the end of that season.

During his loan spell, he got four goals and one assist. That is a great result! To put this into a little context, he only actually played ten times, and started nine of those. That is a goal involvement every two matches; not many players can do that.

Beyond that, three of his goals were screamers from outside the box, all of them were left-footed shots. Reminds me a lot of Maddison.

He was also incredibly active in defence. He made 1.3 interceptions, 2.4 tackles, and 1.2 clearances per game. This is Mendy numbers of good. Keep in mind, he plays higher up the pitch, so much of his defensive work is part of a high press. Fitting Brendan Rodgers’ style very well.

KDH’s most prolific performance for them was in Blackpool’s 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on the 25th February 2020. It may not sound like a resounding victory, but let’s look at Kiernan’s performance.

An 8.1 rating, a goal, an assist, one key pass, two interceptions, and an 83% pass accuracy. Once more, not many players can perform this well in a single match.

This was a fantastic loan move for him, but was clearly beneath him. This is not to disrespect Blackpool, I love ’em, but League One was clearly too easy for the then 21-year-old playmaker.

Current Season (20/21)

For this season, KDH played his one match for the Leicester City senior team in the Carabao Cup, then left on loan to Luton Town – the Hatters. And he has been a standout performer for them (once more we use the same Sofascore page)!

An average rating of 7.21, playing 20 games with an average of 80 minutes a game, he has made team of the week three times to date, has two goals, and three assists. He has been on fire in the Championship.

His direct goal contributions are a lower than his time at Blackpool, but this is due to two factors. Firstly, the quality of defending in the Championship compared to League one is much improved. Secondly, the Hatters’ squad is not necessarily the best team in the Championship.

The Hatters are 15th in the Championship, so Kiernan has not been able to carry them, but certainly their current form is an improvement, and one I personally hope will continue. Up the Hatters!

During this loan spell, he has been very active off the ball. He makes clever runs, links up play very well, finds pockets of space, and of course finds the killer pass. These are the qualities which make him eligible for either the Maddison or Tielemans roles.

He has been less defensively active than previously, but this probably says more about his role in the system at Luton than anything. 1.4 interceptions, 1.9 tackles, and 0.8 clearances per game. These numbers are still very indicative of his ability to press high up the pitch and do the dirty defensive work when necessary.

He regularly outperforms his xG (expected goals), xA (expected assists), and regularly wins back possession for the Hatters. So, how does this apply to a potential return to the Foxes.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: The next star

Before rating his loan spells, and deciding whether or not next season should be in the senior Prem’ team or not, I wanted to share with yourself two posts which show how much he is loved by those he plays for.

Clearly Luton Town loves having him in the squad! KDH was Leicester’s development squad player of the season in 2018/19. This was the first season where he truly marked his potential and stamped his name on the young talent books. The Foxes faithful began to adore this lad. Me included.

So, here we go. Here is my Foxes of Leicester ‘Loan Rating Award’. 8/10.

A fantastic award to the young fox and current Hatter. He is developing very well at the moment, and getting constant game time. There is little for us to complain about.

KDH has taken up the transitional role, helping to get the ball out of a pressurised defence and into an attacking build-up, linking with players around him to progress the ball through spaces and into attacking positions.

He has also taken the playmaker role in attack, helping to create and find spaces both within and behind the defensive lines. He can pull players out of position, or find an inch perfect killer pass to a marauding winger or fullback. He creates chances.

However, there is still room for improvement. He will need to start finding himself more space in the half-spaces, and become a little more successful at winning the ball when tackling.

The first improvement will develop his goal-scoring acumen, affording him the space, position, and time to get a decent shot on goal with his strong left foot. On that note, he could improve his right foot!

Our verdict is therefore twofold. There are two options of how Leicester City could progress his career. Either they retain him for the senior squad, playing him rotationally alongside Praet as opposed to Tielemans; or, the Foxes could send him back on loan.

He would need to go to a foreign first division to become more cultured and experienced. He will not learn too much more about the English game, and learning how to play from other coaches and other styles of play will make KDH even more versatile. I want him back in the squad though. Let me know what you think in the poll above. Thank you for reading!