Tyler Dibling: The curious case of Everton’s £40m youngster
Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman, who played for Moyes during his first tenure at the club, understands the youngster’s situation and sympathizes with him.
Osman told BBC Sport: “This year has been a training year. “I would expect him to be back at the start of next season and look like he’s ready to challenge for a place in the first team.
“He’s now had a full year to understand what’s expected of him, but let’s not forget in all of this that Tyler is a young lad who is known to be a pretty low-key guy.
“He moved all over the country to live in a completely different environment where he didn’t know anyone, which is a big step for any young man.
“And he does it with the weight of expectation that comes with a big price tag, with people expecting him to succeed every time in a completely different football club culture. “There needs to be a level of understanding.
“Everton is a different environment to many other football clubs so it is not always easy to achieve success, but his talent shows that if he does his best and works as hard as he can it will work out for him.”
Osman believes Dibling’s time in the shadows at Everton is an example of how Moyes develops young players; he prefers to mold them to his own needs rather than taking an immediate “sink or swim” approach.
He said: “As we saw from his time at Southampton, there is no doubt that Dibling was a huge talent, had such natural ability and could dribble brilliantly at football. “He was a free spirit.
“When you get to the next level, you have to learn more. When you play for David Moyes’ team, his expectations of what you have to do off the ball double.
“That was probably one of the reasons why I took some time to prove to David Moyes that I could do it, but it was also one of the reasons why I stayed in the team because in David Moyes’ team what you do off the ball can often be more important than what you do on the ball.
“David is very aware that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ in this regard. He knows the talent. He understands the characters. I think his character knowledge has definitely increased since his time away from Everton because he keeps up to date with modern players.
“He’s kept himself young by keeping the next generation around, so he understands this generation. “I think he makes sure everyone gets what they need.
“You have to prove that you can work for the team and that you can work without the ball. Yes, you can make mistakes going forward and he will understand that it suits the field, but coming back you have to make sure that you do your job defensively because there needs to be a balance within the team.”
