Tyler Dibling handed Everton warning as David Moyes unimpressed by training
Tyler Dibling has been warned by a former Everton player that it is “sink or swim” in the Premier League amid an inauspicious start to life at the club.
The former Southampton star arrived on Merseyside in the summer with a hefty price tag of up to £42 million and big expectations.
But a single Premier League start where he was withdrawn at half time against Crystal Palace, and a handful of minutes off the bench in three other league matches has been a disappointment.
Dibling was an unused substitute on Sunday as Everton were beaten 3-0 at home by Tottenham, and Michael Ball doesn’t think the youngster can be doing enough to impress David Moyes in training.
Michael Ball reacts to poor Tyler Dibling start at Everton
Dibling has had to contend with impressive form from Iliman Ndiaye and Man City-loanee Jack Grealish but his involvement has still been below what most would have expected.
After the Spurs defeat made it a single Premier League victory in two months Ball considered the lack of involvement from the 19-year-old.
Moyes only used three subs on the day and turned to both Charly Alcaraz and Merlin Rohl off the Everton bench ahead of the big-money recruit from the South Coast.
Ex-Toffee Ball wrote in his Liverpool Echo column: “Some people might be crying out for changes and if the starters aren’t creating then they need to come off, no matter who they are, whether it’s Grealish or Ndiaye but I remember that Sven-Goran Eriksson [at Man City] was a master of that as often someone like Martin Petrov on the wing might be very poor all game and wouldn’t be involved but the manager trusted him to find that half a yard when the opposition tired, to create an opportunity.
“We’ve spent a lot of money on Tyler Dibling but he probably needs to be doing more in training to get in the manager’s eye. It’s sink or swim in the Premier League and when you get your opportunity you’ve got to take it.”
Dibling may be slow burner but Everton need boost now
Ball may have been pointing to the 45-minute start against Palace as an opportunity already missed, as Moyes hooked him with the side trailing before coming back to win.
Since then Everton are clearly not in the sort of crisis that often characterised the final years of the Farhad Moshiri reign but some of the shine of the new season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium under The Friedkin Group is starting to come off.
| Opponent | Involvement |
| Wolves | Unused sub |
| Aston Villa | Unused sub |
| Liverpool | 4 minutes |
| West Ham | 9 minutes |
| Crystal Palace | 45 minutes (start) |
| Man City | 4 minutes |
| Tottenham | Unused sub |
A lack of goals up front from either Beto or Dibling’s fellow summer recruit Thierno Barry is probably of greater concern right now, but more return on the investment in the Englishman would certainly help.
He’s got lost in the shuffle of a strong selection of support attackers for Moyes after being an obvious star for a poor Southampton side which went back down with a whimper last year.
After being linked to the likes of Tottenham and Man United in the summer the Toffees won the race at significant expense and at his age he has time to come good.
But if results continue to dip questions will increasingly be asked about Dibling is failing to show behind the scenes.