Everton FC correspondent Joe Thomas on Tyler Dibling's performance against Wolves and the hope it has inspired inside Finch Farm
Tyler Dibling was excellent for Everton in their Carabao Cup win over WolvesView Image
As Tyler Dibling slid on his knees and swept the ball away from the boots of Tawanda Chirewa, Everton manager David Moyes, still on his feet, applauded.
It was easy to see why. The ball had moved from one box to the other with lightening pace. In one moment, a brilliant pass had set Brennan Johnson behind the Wolves back four for a glorious chance to break the deadlock. Seconds later, Chirewa was about to bear down on Jordan Pickford’s goal and it took a brilliant tackle to deny him.
Dibling was the man responsible for both.
Moyes was clapping the whole passage of play but which part was his favourite? “I liked the pass because that's what we brought him for,” he said at Finch Farm on Friday afternoon.
“[But] I have just said about the DNA at Everton and he's beginning to show it by that [tackle]. He's beginning to show that we don't always have the top quality and we might not always have the best but we're expecting him to do everything he can for the team and he did in that moment.”
Dibling was voted man of the match at Hill Dickinson Stadium and deservedly so. In one national newspaper it was suggested the 20-year-old delivered a piece of play, in that moment, that suggested the “penny had dropped” in his understanding of what Moyes demanded of his stars.
That won’t be enough - Moyes wants and needs more than a ‘breakthrough’ moment from a £35m player. But Wednesday night held the potential to be a major step forward.
Showing an awareness of that, Moyes said: “He’s got competition so he can't have a breakthrough moment, he has to show it regularly. You can play well in one game but you've got to be someone who's doing it consistently. But that's probably as well as he's played for us. We enjoyed watching him.”
The spoils for Everton and Dibling should the player start showcasing the talent he undoubtedly has are great. After the turbulence of deadline day, when Moyes' attack lost Iliman Ndiaye and Beto, with only Jack Grealish arriving, the emergence of a fifth attacking option he can count on would be invaluable for Moyes.
Grealish is a superstar and Thierno Barry and Tyrique George have shown genuine promise in the early weeks of the season. Johnson, a Europa League match winner, has started well. But those four players operating across three attacking spots is not enough to sustain Everton over 90 minutes, let alone the long stretch to January.
If Dibling can emerge as a fifth option, suddenly Moyes has something to work with. Options would still be thin but he can rest and rotate, he could consider Johnson as an option up top, he would have a fighting chance. This is his chance and that is Moyes’ hope.
The Blues boss said: “It gave us all a bit of real hope inside the building as well that we've got Tyler, who we bought for the future, and he just showed it.
“He's given me thoughts that he could come on, could help us, could start. If he starts and plays the way he did the other night then there will certainly be much more opportunities for him to play.”