Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been a fine signing for Everton, and an impressive statistic has come to light that shows just how complete he is.
The Toffees splashed around £28 million to sign Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea last summer, and some eyebrows were raised because of that fee.
After all, Dewsbury-Hall hadn’t played a huge amount for the Blues, getting the majority of his minutes in the Europa Conference League.
But it quickly became apparent that Everton snagged themselves a bargain, with Dewsbury-Hall having impacted the majority of games he’s played in.
Much has been made about his goal contribution rate, but there’s something else that should not be overlooked.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been a pressing monster for Everton
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall playing for Everton against Arsenal.
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
It turns out that Dewsbury-Hall is the best presser at Everton.
According to data from Opta, ‘no Everton player has applied more pressures on opponents in possession than Dewsbury-Hall in the Premier League this season (1594)’.
He is also one of just three Everton players totalling over 1000 high pressures (1010).
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David Moyes teams are built on hard work and pressing, and this data more than explains why the manager is such a big fan of his and has started him in every single Premier League game this season, except when he’s been injured.
And the game against Leeds when he’d only just come back. But despite his lack of fitness, Moyes still chucked him on at half-time that night to try and turn the game around.
And he did that, with Dewsbury-Hall even drawing praise from Leeds’ James Justin.
Dewsbury-Hall’s haul of six goals and five assists is impressive enough.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is one of the best signings Everton have made in years, isn’t he?!
Not only does he have great final third output, but he's got the work-rate to boot 🔥
A custom graphic showing a statistic about Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
via Opta, March 17
But him emerging as the Everton player with the most pressures really does emphasise what a complete game he has for a midfielder.
He also just gets through a lot of running in general. Against Arsenal, Dewsbury-Hall covered 7.3 miles which is highly impressive.
With every passing game, that £28 million transfer fee is looking cheaper and cheaper, and one wonders if Chelsea might have any regrets.
It’s rare you get a midfielder being an output machine and doing the dirty work as well, but Everton have that player in Dewsbury-Hall and long may he continue to impress.
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