Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: future Leicester captain or not good enough?
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has become one of the first names on the teamsheet for Leicester City under Brendan Rodgers since his Premier League debut 18 months ago. But what does the future hold for KDH?
Most football fans across the leagues romanticise about crowning an academy player as club captain, and longevity and homegrown status at a club can (rightly or wrongly) push certain players up the ranks when making the choice. In the case of KDH, recency bias aside, I just don't think he has the on-the-pitch qualities to be a captain.
That's not to say he shouldn't be a regular starter for us or that he can't continue to develop his game. The captain needs to provide leadership on and off the pitch, encouraging and organising team mates and acting as a communication bridge between the players and manager/coaches. They also need to be consistent in their performances and good enough to warrant being one of the first names on the team sheet for every game.
From what we've seen from KDH in the first team, he is a very talented player, arguably with a ceiling beyond what we have seen to date. He can be incredibly effective as a ball carrying midfielder and has shown enough quality to become a first team regular despite his inconsistent form this season. In the right system, he will undoubtedly be a good Premier League player for years to come.
However, in terms of leadership and consistency, I've not seen enough to suggest that he is in the mould of a club captain, particularly as a current member of a side severely lacking in strong personalities and winning mentalities.
The only current player (likely to be here beyond the summer) who stands out for the job is Victor Kristiansen.
Matt Jedruch
As much as I like KDH, I think his status as an important starter is representative of our failure to capitalise on how the team was set up for the future two or three years ago. That's nothing against him personally - you can say the same of the current importance of Nampalys Mendy.
Because two or three years ago, if you'd known Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison would all still be at the club now and we'd have signed a £17million midfielder from the French champions, you'd have thought we'd be brilliant in the middle of the park.
But ever since the Ndidi-Tielemans axis fell from its peak due to injuries and poor form, the whole balance of the side has been off. In recent weeks we've ended up with a midfield of Mendy and Dewsbury-Hall - and that's been our best option. You have to conclude that KDH wouldn't have had nearly as many minutes as he has if the Soumare signing had worked out.
We also have to acknowledge KDH is in a difficult position at the moment. He strikes me as a player who needs to be surrounded by quality in order to thrive. He can cover for the weaknesses of others through his running and pressing ability. At the moment, especially without Tielemans, we're instead reliant on KDH providing the quality himself. It's a lot to ask amid the pressure of a relegation battle.
He's primarily a runner and ball-carrier and as lovely as it is whenever he glides effortlessly past an opponent with the ball, that can only take you so far. Soon you've got to do something with it. He joins Soumare and Praet in a similar category for me - not really defensive midfielders, not really attacking midfielders - and we end up lacking at both ends of the pitch, especially with the problems we've got in goal and up front.
On top of that, Rodgers has, for some bizarre reason, switched him to the right side of central midfield and it's obvious to anybody it doesn't suit him. The constant pirouettes to get it onto his left foot against Chelsea looked pretty and occasionally worked but didn't look part of a good overall plan.
In short, if we manage to scrape survival from this torrid season then KDH is one of the players who should be feeling a lot more competition for his place.
David Bevan
As much as I love the energy and enthusiasm KDH brings to the side, I don't think he's cut out to be captain material currently, although should he mature then possibly in future.
It's easy to forget he's only six months younger than Youri Tielemans and when you look at them in terms of ability, they are miles apart. However, Youri has three goals and one assist in 23 games this season and KDH has two goals and two assists in 24 games, so he is posting similar, albeit small, numbers in a struggling side.
He brings a good balance to the midfield given he is (very) left-footed and his work rate means we can press higher and allows Tielemans and James Maddison more freedom. With those two potentially leaving in the summer, KDH will be the first midfielder on the teamsheet.
With Evans' injury problems, Albrighton out on loan and Vardy seemingly coming towards the end of his career, there isn't exactly a standout candidate for captaincy and having a local lad as skipper might breathe some fresh life into the team and enable him to grow as a player.
Jordan Halford
My heart wants to say future captain. My head says he’s absolutely not good enough. You want a local lad to do well and potentially captain the team - you can certainly see he cares, which is a struggle to say for many right now, but his lack of real quality is clear to see too.
If he was as young as people seem to think he is (19-21ish) then maybe he'd still have a higher ceiling to reach and could develop into that Premier League captain material, but with turning 25 this year I can't help think his level has been found out this season. That level being much lower than our ambitions.
His first touch is unforgivable and makes half his second touches a tackle. I'm also unsure of his best role - definitely not the right of central midfield which we seem to have been playing him in despite being the most left footed player of all time - but it's a bit conflicted which also doesn't even make him a guaranteed starter for me, let alone skipper.
Saying all this, with relegation on the cards, he's a good Championship player and I can picture him captaining us in that division (and doing well).
Becky Taylor
