Why Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall played as a wingback against Everton

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has twenty four appearances for Leicester City in the Premier League this season in which he has one goal and two assists to his name – in midfield.

Leicester are struggling to end their season on a positive note. All hopes were on a Europa Conference League tie against Roma to salvage something this term, in the name of an inaugural European trophy. However, after the Foxes suffered a narrow yet very frustrating defeat against an Italian opponent, their fightback in the EPL hasn’t been impressive. A 2-1 loss to Everton at King Power Stadium – who themselves are in a relegation battle and had not won a single match away from their home since August – really raised some questions over LCFC manager Brendan Rodgers.

In this campaign of negatives, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s introduction to the team was definitely one of the most positive elements. He surely has a lot to learn to become world class, but he has shown he has all the ingredients. Brendan Rodgers made an unexpected decision in last matchweek, when the midfielder was played in the position of Luke Thomas at left wingback. The tacticians of the game say that it was done to add more thrust to the attack of the team when they trailed to Frank Lampard’s team.

"“Just to put an extra attacker in, in Ayo, and with Kiernan coming in to play in that role to have a look and experiment with. Because if we ever needed to play in a different system in a different way, it was just to see him in that role.“He [‘KDH’] can get up the pitch and can be more aggressive. Luke’s a young player who serves more behind the game. So it was for an attacking reason to play him there, and also to play Ayo.– Brendan Rodgers, Leicester Mercury"

One cannot argue about the potential of ‘KDH’, yet he will be more critically assessed next season as now he has gained good experience in domestic league. But this alteration which brought the former Luton Town loanee in at the fullback role is also of somewhat concern. We have observed in the past that a Fullback has this capability to make or break a game for the team. When Ricardo Pereira was fully fit before he injured his anterior cruciate ligament, LCFC were a huge threat on that right side. We didn’t had a suitable right winger back then, either, nevertheless yet we created chances swiftly from that side.

James Justin and Timothy Castagne have both struggled from serious injuries in the past and have been out for parts of the year. However, Thomas is an interesting player in that regard. He has been fit for most of the season and has 21 appearances for the club in the top-flight. The latter hasn’t been poor but he was also not exceptional. While amongst all this there is also Ryan Bertrand who is still unavailable. Personally, I think we need a robust player in this capacity from the coming summer window so that we don’t have to rely on our midfielders to play that part.

Kasper Schmeichel’s led side are 14th in the table and mathematically still not safe from relegation. It is pretty clear that this season has been a relative disaster for every Blue Army supporter. Although, according to the gaffer, he is still aiming for a top half finish.