Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall fills a role that's been left vacant for several seasons

In Everton’s final pre-season fixture ahead of the 2025-26 Premier League season, and in front of the first full-house at the newly opened Hill Dickinson Stadium, the Toffees played out a 1-0 defeat against visiting Roma.

While the result was disappointing, there were positives to take from the match, namely the performance of some of Everton’s new signings. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who signed from Chelsea last week in a deal worth an initial £25m, started in midfield and showed glimpses of what he can provide the Toffees in the future.

In 61 minutes on the pitch, Dewsbury-Hall completed 25 out of 26 passes, a 96% completion rate, and created four chances, the most of any Everton player on the day. Occupying the space in front of James Garner and Idrissa Gueye, and between Illiman Ndiaye and Charly Alcaraz, Dewsbury-Hall was pivotal in linking the play between defence and attack.

The 26-year-old looked comfortable dropping back and receiving the ball under pressure, and either dribbling up the pitch on his own or releasing it to one of the three other attacking players. He set up three chances for striker Thierno Barry, twice laying the ball off to the striker on a quick break, and delivered a nice cross from a corner routine.

It was reminiscent of Dewsbury-Hall’s last season at Leicester in the Championship, when almost all of the Foxes' positive play ran through him in midfield. That season, Dewsbury-Hall led the team with a combined 26 goals and assists and created over 100 chances. But for Everton, a midfielder like that has been absent from the squad for several seasons.

Last season, Dwight McNeil created the most chances for Everton, with 37, despite missing 18 games between December and April with a knee injury. McNeil also topped that chart in 2023-24. Before him, it was Alex Iwobi, and then Demarai Gray. The one thing all these players have in common is that they joined the club as wingers.

Iwobi and McNeil both played more centrally at times for Everton. Iwobi especially excelled as a number eight in his final season at Everton before departing for Fulham, but didn’t quite possess the range of passing you want from a central midfielder despite being a workhorse out of possession.

While McNeil does have the ability to deliver a fantastic pass at times, he’s probably too reliant on his stronger left foot to be able to operate as well centrally as the team needs, so often ends up cutting the ball back if he ends up in a position where he can’t either shoot from distance or cross with his left.

Abdoulaye Doucoure is another player who played in that role in recent years, but for all his work ethic and his ability to get amongst the goals in important moments, he didn’t possess nearly enough quality with the ball at his feet to link up play successfully. His first touch often let the midfielder down.

The last time Everton had a natural ball-playing central attacking midfielder in the side was club record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson played four seasons for Everton between 2017 and 2021 before departing the club under shadowy circumstances amidst a police investigation.

His time on Merseyside was up and down, he struggled to make an impact in his first season but found his feet in year two, finishing with 13 Premier League goals and six assists after playing in every game. He struggled again in his third season and did okay in his fourth before dropping off the map.

The last time Everton had a truly successful player in attacking midfield was when Ross Barkley played for the club, and while it would be unfair to set expectations for Dewsbury-Hall as high as that, there are some similarities in their styles of play.

What will be interesting to monitor is how the arrival of Jack Grealish impacts Dewsbury-Hall’s position. David Moyes could opt to play Grealish behind the striker and move Dewsbury-Hall further back, or keep the midfield combination of Dewsbury-Hall, Garner, and Gana Gueye, which we saw against Roma, and play Grealish alongside them in place of Charly Alcaraz. Regardless, there are now several options in an area of the pitch that’s been lacking at the club for several seasons.

Good article, thanks Angus. The reason Sigurdsson struggled was he often had to play wide or deep (even as a holding midfielder at times) due to the idiotic way the squad had been assembled. Even when in his specialist position, he often lacked pacy wide players to open up the pitch (which had made him a success at Swansea).

Barkley, by contrast, had Deulofeu and Mirallas and others as well as two / three superb attacking full backs.

It is exciting to have central playmakers but they are severely hindered by lack of pace / attacking options in wide positions (inc full back).

As a final point Barkley was given licence to roam by McCarthy’s work rate and Barry’s discipline, quality and experience as a sitting / holding midfielder.

We have no shortage of energy from evergreen Gueye but lack a specialist sitting / holding midfielder - with Garner being the closest. This may also limit the effectiveness of our central attacking playmakers.