EXCLUSIVE: Alan Stubbs believes that David Moyes' Everton are clicking on and off the pitch and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been a key player in both respects
Former Everton captain Alan Stubbs
Former Everton captain Alan Stubbs
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Former captain Alan Stubbs believes that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is showing that he’s what an Everton player should be – both on and off the pitch. The £25million summer signing from Chelsea has been in sparkling form for the Blues throughout an impressive run that has seen them win four of their last five matches.
Against Fulham, when his corner was headed in by Michael Keane for the clinching second goal, Dewsbury-Hall also made the joint most high-intensity runs among his Premier League peers and successful passes.
Moving deeper against Manchester United after Idrissa Gueye’s 13th-minute sending off, he then netted the match-winner as Everton became the first visiting side to triumph in a Premier League game at Old Trafford after being reduced to 10 men.
Despite losing 4-1 to Newcastle United next time out, the 27-year-old scored what he considers to be the best goal of his career, then after another display pulling the strings as the Blues picked up three points for the first time at the Vitality Stadium at Bournemouth, he was man-of-the-match in the 3-0 success against Nottingham Forest, with his second-minute effort deflected in off Nikola Milenkovic for the opener before netting the third goal 10 minutes from the end.
Lifelong Evertonian Stubbs, who made 193 appearances for the Blues and scored seven goals across two spells, told the ECHO: “I think the best way I could describe Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s performances of late is immense.
“If there’s one player that has come to the club and had an impact, not just on the pitch but off the pitch in the way he speaks, it’s him.
“Kiernan is what every fan wants to see and hear how an Everton player should be. He speaks brilliantly well, I think he’s really bought into Everton and the plans that the club have in terms of going forward.
“His performances have been fantastic. Obviously, you can see that he’s a very talented player, but I think he’s a player that thrives on responsibility as well, which is great.
“His vision, his football intelligence, his work rate to win the ball back. He just ticks a lot of boxes.
“I think he’s one of those players that every dressing room needs. When things are going well, you can see that his confidence is sky high, but when things aren’t going well, I think he’s one of those players who would put his arm around his team-mates and say to them: ‘Come on, we need more’.
“I think he’s that type of person, that type of individual, and if you’re David Moyes, the manager, he’s exactly the type of player that you want because he’s vitally important both on the pitch and off it in terms of the dressing room.”
Stubbs, who was speaking via top 20 casino sites ranked, was particularly satisfied with the emphatic nature in which Everton overcame a Nottingham Forest side that had triumphed 3-0 at Anfield just a fortnight earlier.
He said: “I thought it was a real potential banana skin in terms of what’s been going on with Sean Dyche and I think Nottingham Forest are a decent team in a false position in the table.
“I think the result epitomised where Everton are now to where they were under the previous regime, the contrast between where Everton were when Dyche left them to where they are now under Moyes is night and day.
“When I look at this Everton team now, early in the season there was a real expectancy on Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye to play really well and get results.
“I think over the past three or four weeks that responsibility has shifted and there are other players now who are really stepping up to the plate and the over-reliance on Grealish and Ndiaye has reduced which is a good sign for Everton.
“What you’re seeing now is a real, collective team performance. Everybody is playing their part and confidence is very high in the dressing room.
“There’s a real togetherness that is shining through on the pitch. This is probably a group of players that get on well off the pitch and you can see that with the camaraderie when they’re scoring goals, everybody is up to celebrate with each other – without getting carried away, it’s really positive at the moment.”