Dibling should have plenty of opportunities to find the breakthrough in an Everton shirt that could kickstart his time with the club
Tyler Dibling
Tyler Dibling
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Everton’s small squad will create challenges for David Moyes but it will also provide opportunities for some of his players.
Chief among those who could benefit is Tyler Dibling. After a tough first season in Royal Blue, Everton cannot afford to avoid giving him opportunities - and he has the talent to take them.
Moyes has been pleased with what he has seen from him this summer and it is now on the pair to work together to build on a pre-season in which the manager believes Dibling has “started to come to life”.
Dibling did not make it onto the pitch against Manchester United. Instead, he watched Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ late screamer from the dugout where the strike left him and Carlos Alcaraz with their heads in their hands.
For all the joy the 20-year-old would have taken at that goal, and watching close friend Tyrique George grab his first goal at Everton earlier in the game, there would probably have been a degree of frustration in his mind.
Maitland-Niles has played fewer than 20 minutes in Royal Blue and has already had a breakout moment - Dibling is still waiting for his.
Finding a way to change that will be fundamental to what Everton can do over the coming months.
The loss of Iliman Ndiaye and Beto means Moyes now needs a right-wing option more than ever, probably two.
Jack Grealish is a superstar on the left, so that position is covered. But he cannot be expected to play 90 minutes every game, so George will need to dovetail with him out there.
That will limit the extent to which George can help Brennan Johnson on the right, where Johnson was a handful against Michael Carrick’s side. I like what I have seen from Johnson so far.
The problem for Moyes is that, at least for me, I cannot see a scenario in which Johnson does not end up being used up front.
Thierno Barry has already had a rollercoaster season. Across four games he has four goals but, in his last two games, has missed four big chances. I think the situation is too nuanced to lose faith in him - I actually think he is reading the game better and finding himself on the end of chances he would not have got to last season (like the header he powered over on Sunday). I also think he is doing better when the chances come to him even when he is not scoring - at Bournemouth he was denied by two great Dorde Petrovic saves but did well to create space for the second one by cutting inside a flailing defender.
But even if Barry was to become a complete striker this season, asking him to play at high intensity for 90 minutes every game is too much. And asking Johnson, the only serious alternative, to fire from the right for an hour and then pick up the workload up top is also a lot. In George, Barry and Johnson, Everton had every senior striker option in the squad on the pitch from minute one against Man Utd.
The reality, therefore, is Barry and Johnson will surely have to share the workload up front. But, while there might be an argument to say Carlos Alcaraz can provide some cover on the left and Merlin Rohl the same on the right, both are better in the middle.
For Everton to remain competitive for 90 minutes without flogging Grealish, Barry, Johnson and George, Dibling needs to be the missing piece of the puzzle.
He is a player of immense talent and has made strides forward this summer. I took hope from his performances.
Moyes did too - this is what he had to say about him before the trip to Bournemouth: “Tyler has started to show bits which have been better. He has started to come to life a little bit in some ways in a couple of the games.
“I still would need more from him. I would need more assists, more opportunities to score from him as well. I said last week if we are going to score more goals then we need our wide players to be more creative or score goals to give us that. So Tyler needs to keep that up, but he’s certainly doing much better in the last few weeks, that’s for sure.”
Having watched George have a standout moment and Harrison Armstrong, another good friend, burst onto centre stage this season, hopefully Dibling can now follow suit. The stage is set for him.