Everton spent much of the summer searching for a right-back, eventually signing Ainsley Maitland-Niles – and yet may still have a completely different long-term plan for the position.
Everton signed Maitland-Niles from Lyon for around £4.3m on deadline day, so the obvious assumption was that David Moyes had finally got his right-back.
Yesterday suggested it may not be quite that simple.
Moyes is giving Röhl a chance
The Guardian reports that Everton consider Merlin Rohl a potential long-term solution at right-back. Moyes backed that up by starting him against Manchester United despite having Maitland-Niles available.
It wasn’t comfortable, not at times. At times, Marcus Rashford had Rohl on toast, while Luke Shaw also found plenty of space down United’s left.
That’s hardly surprising given Rohl is still learning the position. There were positives too, particularly the excellent first-half cross that Thierno Barry should probably have converted.
Maitland-Niles offers something different
Maitland-Niles looks the obvious right-back option given the amount of football he has played there, although his long-standing preference has been to operate in midfield. His Everton debut offered a reminder of why.
When the ball eventually fell to him in the 96th minute, Maitland-Niles was in a central position around 30 yards from goal and sent a magnificent shot into the top corner.
So perhaps Moyes hasn’t simply signed the right-back Everton spent all summer looking for. He has signed a versatile player who can cover there while also giving him another midfield option.
Rohl, meanwhile, looks like he will continue learning the role. Sunday showed there is still plenty to learn, but Moyes clearly sees enough to persevere with it.
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