For the first time in a good while, Everton had three representatives in England’s latest squad, with Jarrad Branthwaite and James Garner joining Jordan Pickford in Thomas Tuchel’s selection for the extended international break across September and October.
However, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall once again missed out. But the 28-year-old is hoping his maiden call-up will soon arrive.
“Yeah, I’m hoping so,” he told evertonfc.com in an Q&A. “You get the provisional squads which I’m in every time now. That tells you you’re close.
“I believe in my ability. I know if I can show what I know I can do, it’s inevitable at some point. I want to put it in the manager’s head, so he knows it’s not really an option. So, if I can do that, maybe I’ll be lucky and get one!”
Dewsbury-Hall has not had the best start to the season, but his importance to Everton is undoubted.
However, England have a plethora of quality players to choose from in that number 10 position, and so Dewsbury-Hall has a battle on his hands to make the cut. But, what does the data look like? Does it back up Tuchel not selecting Dewsbury-Hall, or is the former Chelsea man unlucky?
Here’s how he stacks up against some of the other key contenders: Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Gibbs-White and Phil Foden.
We’ve discounted Jude Bellingham, given he should be a shoo-in for every England squad, when fit.
Dating back to the start of last season, Dewsbury-Hall has featured in 39 games, which is the lowest tally of any of these players.
So it’s perhaps unsurprising that he is the lowest scorer of this group, with nine goals to his name. That is only one fewer, though, than Eze and Foden, who have played 60 and 56 games, respectively. Palmer (15), Rogers (17) and Gibbs-White (19) are significantly clear.
Dewsbury-Hall’s conversion rate, however, is an impressive 13.9%. Only Palmer (14.2%) and Gibbs-White (15.5%) have put away a higher percentage of the chances that have come their way.
Creatively, Dewsbury-Hall has only managed to lay on an average of 0.18 assists per 90 (4 assists in total), which does trail some way behind his rivals here, too (albeit, Palmer has only assisted 5 goals and Eze only 6).
Yet Dewsbury-Hall has laid on 56 chances, whereas Palmer has provided 51 and Eze 45. Essentially, Dewsbury-Hall has been let down by some poor finishing from his team-mates, too — it always takes two to tango, after all.
Dewsbury-Hall is only averaging 3.1 touches in the opponent’s box every 90 minutes, too, which ranks above only Eze (3.0) out of these no.10 candidates. That’s probably a reflection of Everton’s tactics, too, in that he is not seeing the ball with such regularity in the final third as his rivals for the position.
Off the ball, though, Dewsbury-Hall leads the way. He is top for tackles (1.8) and tackles won (0.8) per 90. Only Rogers contests more duels on average, but Dewsbury-Hall tends to win more of those than the Chelsea star.
And when directly compared to Gibbs-White, who has been on the fringes of recent squads, Dewsbury-Hall actually ranks higher, this season, in a number of key metrics.
It then comes down to what Tuchel wants from the player he drops into that number 10 role. If he is looking for a player to lead the press and get stuck in, and come up with the odd magic moment, then Dewsbury-Hall has a chance.
However, it is fair to say that in other areas, Dewsbury-Hall is trailing behind the rest.
He has the talent to earn international recognition, and he may not be far off, but as the data shows, right now, he is possibly just a tad short of where he needs to be to truly cement himself in that England squad.
But, if that changes for the better, it will only be good for Everton.
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