It was to be expected, but it was still really notable how comfortable Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall looked on his Chelsea debut.
The midfielder pulled on his Blue shirt for the first time in the game against Club America on Wednesday night, and instantly looked like he knew what to do and where to be. That’s no surprise of course – part of the reason he was bought by the club this summer was the fact that he played under Enzo Maresca last season at Leicester, learning the manager’s very specific style and performing extremely well.
Speaking to the club ahead of our next friendly, which comes tonight against Man City, KDH went over a little bit of what it had been like playing for his old coach, but at a new team:
What is it that Maresca wants from a player who is drilled in his system?
“Positional awareness, knowing when to be in certain instances in the game when we have the ball, getting in the box, trying to score goals and get assists, and trying to be aggressive off the ball. They are the main principles, without giving too much away!
“It’s an important position in the team so you need to be clued up in what you need to do while you’re playing it. Thankfully I feel like I have an understanding of the position, and there is still so much for me to learn.”
A key role in the team
Dewsbury-Hall showed exactly what his role is going to be, and how effective a player he could be this year, when he assisted Chelsea’s second goal. He timed his burst forward from the back perfectly, stretched the defence with his run behind, got to the byline then played a great cross in for Marc Guiu to head in.
The whole thing was so slick, but it was no coincidence that KDH looks comfy while everyone else looks clunky.
