Tyler Dibling needs the same trust that has been given to Thierno Barry

Probably not immediately and we mustn't expect that, but it's either now or late in the season when we're likely to be comfortably mid-table or better.

If Dibling gets his chance and hits the ground running, the manager is going to get quite a bit of stick off the people who don't like Moyes.

But if Dibling gets his chance and doesn't, then for the people who like Moyes, this will be all the justification that is needed for them to vindicate the manager.

My own view is that I'm not totally convinced that Dibling will start against Arsenal on Saturday night.

It would be a very pleasant surprise if Moyes actually chose to have a real go at the gooners. What have we got to lose? Short of injured players, those at the Afcon etc.

Let's be honest, even with a full strength team it's going to be tough. So I would rather we had a go at them than sit back and hope for the best

Let's not forget Moyes hauling a young Barkley off early on for doing just that. But on the other hand, if Dibling isn't ready, lacking confidence or out of form, then dropping him in now puts a huge microscope on him and exacerbates that issue.

So it's a decision I don't envy Moyes having to make.

Play McNeil on the left wing -- he is a left-winger -- and move Grealish inside:

Pickford
O'Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Mykolenko
Garner Iroegbunam
Dibling, Grealish, McNeil
Beto

If, however, Grealish isn't fit, that will be Moyes's biggest challenge.

No Ndiaye, no Dewsbury-Hall, and a possibility of no Grealish, which means that 99.9% of our creativity will be missing. I personally wouldn't trust Dibling on the wing, if I was going off his performance against Palace. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be considering him to play inside, trying to find those little pockets of space, for the times we have to try and get at Arsenal.

Kieran #4, let us by all means "forget Moyes hauling a young Barkley off early on" because, to my recollection, it never happened. I remember Koeman subbing Barkley at halftime for giving the ball away, not Moyes. When do you remember Moyes doing it?

Tight 2-1 victory. Saliba og, McNeil worldy.

We win by making the game shite.

I hope our medical staff are working flat out to get Dewsbury-Hall, Rohl and Branthwaite back for that clash as, for me, the FA Cup should be our prime objective now. We aren't getting relegated this season and we haven't got the squad for a European push so go for cup glory, Moyes!

For me, the team v Arsenal picks itself:

Pickford
O'Brien Tarkowski Keane Mykolenko
Garner Iroegbunam
Dibling Alcaraz McNeil
Barry

(Although I'm beginning to think Beto should be given another go...)

If Grealish is fully fit, I'd consider:

Pickford
O'Brien Tarkowski Keane
Garner Iroegbunam Alcaraz McNeil
Dibling Beto Grealish

But that will never happen.

Has that NBA 'star' who Mike Gaynes put on a pedestal who screamed that he would be at the match in 3 weeks has not been to one. Mr Gaynes said he could, believe it or not. 'guarantee' that Friedkin was 'falling' for Evere Yton. When questioned by many, he never responded. The Yanks are on probation.

If he's not then the finger must already being pointed at our new recruitment team, imo.

Our American owners have taken us to places we haven't been for years, financial security and professional management.

Early days maybe, but have they chosen well in terms of recruitment team, time will tell us more, This is obviously the bit we need to get right. We can't afford too many mistakes.

I hope that now we have the full recruitment team in place that they can start to deliver.

Our best eleven, despite its shortcomings, gives most teams a game, but beyond it we have little squad depth and the Premier League finds you out when that's the case.

Can you please provide evidence rather than a completely unsupported meaningless generalisation that means nothing?

Do you believe that the summer window addressed our main problems?

But if we are going defensive v Arsenal he at least has the ability to rough up their two second choice centre backs. I've hoped and prayed and crossed everything crossable that Barry would come good but, it's just not happening is it?
May as well mix up the front man and keep the strongest 10 behind him.

On the subject of our recruitment, I'm getting really concerned that in Aznou, Dibling and Barry they've brought in young players who are far from home (Dibling got homesick for Southampton in London!) and don't look to me (from afar, I'm not in the know) to be settled.

I hope that a run in the team and a warm welcoming embrace from our support will make Tyler feel more at home soon but, just a gut feeling here, I don't think we'll see Aznou play much, if at all, for us. Echoes of the Nkounkou deal for me.

By the way, how is Jonjoe Kenny getting on these days? I had high hopes for him.

More likely the 3 will be Alcaraz, McNeil and Grealish.

He has come with a big fee and, for me, he wasn't the player we needed to spend £40M on last summer. It was too much, too soon.

Hopefully his pedigree comes good, but I think we are in for a patient wait to see any meaningful return.

The posters calling him to start now, I'd be interested if they've seen anything in his performances so far, to merit him get more minutes. From what I've seen, he's played safe and offered little threat or quality. It is not as if Moyes is containing a tiger... The lad has to show what he is about, and push his cause.

A price tag will always be there, so why shouldn't we expect something of him, especially when we saw encouraging glimpses of him last season?

We have enjoyed some good football recently from Grealish, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Garner, but things being as they are, the guys on the sidelines must step up. It's how we set up now that matters; over to you, Moyes.

On 20 June 2025, Kenny left Hertha BSC and joined Greece Super League side PAOK on a free transfer, signing a contract until 2028. He's played 6 league games for them.

We are down to bare bones, any wins in the next few games would be a bonus no matter what team or tactics Moyes selects. This is the time to tell Dibling and Barry that they will get a run of games, win, draw or lose, and give them experience to see what they are made of.

Alcaraz was awful against Forest, we effectively played the first half with 10 men. We looked much better with McNeil on. For me, play Dibling on the right and let McNeil and Grealish interchange on the centre and left. Alcaraz and Beto on the bench.

Full backs, particularly right-back, have been an issue for us for years now, since Coleman's long-term injury. Gueye, in the twilight of his career, needs a quality replacement.
We all know we need a better striker.

There were some positives: Dewsbury-Hall, Grealish, even if only short-term, Branthwaite on an extended contract.

As I've said before, whilst there is a transfer committee including Moyes, imo there is a difference of opinion between Moyes's wish for short-term experience and our owner's wish for investment in and maybe future return on potential. That's just my opinion.

In an ideal world, you can add both experience and potential, if funds permit. Our funds are limited. So the recruitment in the Summer was very mixed, but for me failed to address some glaring issues.

As others have pointed out to me, the new recruitment team was not fully in place until late in the window, so their next moves will tell us a lot more, that's what I meant by time will tell us more.

Not really hitting the heights I hoped he'd hit then but there's worse ways to earn a living than playing footy in Greece, I suppose.

Is it not time for a dedicated Transfer Window thread and any glimmers of hope for full-backs and strikers?

I'm not sure if he took Barkley off v Blackburn but he wasn't picked after that game and not long after he went on loan to Leeds, didn't last long there and went on loan to Sheffield Wednesday.

In that Blackburn game, Jagielka had a stinker, including giving a penalty away if I'm not mistaken. He gave another one away v Liverpool shortly after that game and wasn't having a good spell.

Jagielka was older and stayed in the team; Barkley was younger and dispensable.

Absolutely spot on.

Moyes on Barkley v Blackburn

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/20/everton-ross-barkley-england

And that for me is the point when you can do something different and, if it fails, go back to what you think you know works.

In this case, Moyes has even more cover. Injuries, need to prepare for Afcon, fatigue, small squad.

Therefore, playing Dibling is a no-brainier, and maybe someone from the U21s that just beat PSV might be a free hit. Who is going to criticise him for trying?

Former Everton scout said, “I see a loan coming on here,” King said.

“I would say somewhere in the top half of the Championship. Maybe he could even go back to Southampton. He's a young player, and it would be a learning curve. They've got to sort games out for him somewhere, and he doesn't seem likely to get them at Everton.

“I think it was very questionable when they brought him in. He's a young boy, and if you're going to pay that kind of money for a player of that age, then you've got to be looking for him to go straight into the team."

Apparently, we have only paid Southampton what amounts to a loan fee. So him going back to them would be without a fee. This is Everton.

Dibling is left-footed so he's only a right-winger because of this stupid inverted system that's being used.

Grealish is right-footed; so is Ndiaye.

And I can see why this is an issue, I remember James, and the fact he wouldn't track back left a giant hole in the team. I think it's just a case of drilling him on it.

I expect we will start with McNeil, but that Tyler Dibling will be given half an hour for a few of these games, and hopefully shows what he can do. His talent is not in question.

James Beattie, for example. Or when we paid Ronald Koeman £6M a year to snag him as one of the highest paid managers in the league.

Now Dibling. Yeah he might come good eventually but you can't justify the fee based on what we have seen from him so far.

Personally glad we got him, but very disappointed that he has been given little opportunity to play, apart from cameos off the bench. How the likes of McNeil can get priority when he has been a shadow of his former displays. Mind you he has always been a 'hot and cold' player, but recently has been more than cold when brought in off the bench.

As with most things 'Everton' we are only fed scraps of information, and have very little to go on but speculation. Moyes's hand has been forced now through injury and AFCON players absence, so let's see what happens now. Unfortunately we couldn't have had much harder opposition next match, which will not help players' confidence, unless they pull off a miracle result !

My hope is that somehow we have beaten them five times in the last six years despite all our ongoing problems. Hopefully we can pull off another surprise.

At Roma their first signing was a marquee signing and they have done the same here. Grealish was signed as a replacement for Harrison knowing that Jack would virtually pay for himself and be a catalyst for others to follow suit.

Dewsbury Hall was bought for the here and now, as a direct replacement for Doucoure. Alcaraz was made permanent.

Rohl was signed as a replacement for Mangala.

Dibling was a direct replacement for Lindstrom.

Aznou was a direct replacement for Young who was our back up left back even though often not playing there under Dyche.

Barry was bought as a long term replacement for Calvert Lewin.

At right back Moyes was happy with OBrien, had Garner and Coleman to play there while they couldn't offload Patterson due to injury. This is why Tete was seen as a short term option but after the Scots injury this was never revisited and Moyes explicitly stated that this was not a priority.

Before TFG could build they had to solidify and replenish. I don't think they are going to do great things here. At Roma they haven't even qualified for the Champions League yet (despite previously regularly doing so) and only now have they built up a decent squad but are still trying to make it Champions League quality.

I think they have learnt from giving their managers carte blanche then going back to square one and so are developing a squad that can grow together irrespective of whose in charge.

Moyes was given a squad that he can work with. Beto had proved competent so Barry was bought as someone who would need time to settle and eventually take over. Unfortunately Moyes didn't play to Beto's strengths and their assumption was questionable so Barry has been exposed sooner than ideal, unfairly so in my opinion.

Moyes has the choice of Grealish, Ndiaye, Dibling and McNeil for the wings which teams like Spurs don't even have better. They will be disappointed with Diblings game time but won't question the manager while he is getting results. They know what the have bought, what an investment he will be and won't be doubting this signing.

Their intention with Dewsbury Hall, Grealish, Alcaraz and Dibling was to ensure goals came from all areas as striker wise both would have been only capable of ten goals and Barry was likely to do better come the second half of the season.

Some of the issues are on the manager and some are on TFG. January will be a time when they can revisit the areas where they think they haven't matched up. The summer will be the time when they can really start to shape the squad.

Like Mo Salah, Bukayu Saka, and James Rodriguez?

It doesn't matter what Dibling cost, it's a question: Is he our best option for the team or not? That's what Moyes is paid for.

As others have pointed out to me, the new recruitment team was not fully in place until late in the window.

Ian, it was not in place until September, after the window closed. That's some top-drawer organisation and planning by TFG.

But I'm sure that, now these much trumpeted fellas are with us, the next window will be a roaring success.

Tony #11, perhaps, although it's been reported that Moyes stands first on the recruitment committee, and if so the fickle finger would point at him first. But to me a player's failure to emerge must also, necessarily, be blamed on the player himself.

As a big-money signing who has failed to impact, Dibling has far wealthier colleagues in Wirtz, Isak, Wissa, Gittens, Kerkez and Todibo. And I'm not sure I've seen their clubs' transfer committees similarly criticized.

The management signed three other players, which included Danny van de Beek and the ageing Ronaldo.

Then the manager is expected to do a good job; if he fails, he is gone, and the men in suits remain, as do the failed players!!

They just don't need Dibling 'cos they got someone better.

Isn't that what you would expect from a manger though? To be the first point of contact for the recruitment team? To ask the manager first, 'which positions do you think need strengthening?' And then have the core of the team take over and find the right players?

I can only assume that Moyes must be massively disappointed with what he is seeing from him daily in training, otherwise any team outside the top 6 wouldnt have paid around £40m for a bench warmer.

I hope the lad starts against Arsenal and has a blinder, because if we are to pick up points in the time KDH recovers from his hamstring injury and Ndaiye returns from the AFCON someone has to fill their goal scoring roles.

The Wolves Carabao Cup match was not well prepared, we did not have enough stable play established amongst the regulars, much less a system that a second eleven could sustain. It was if they were thrown together to show they were not worth starting.

Even if Moyes does not prefer Dibling, surely he understands letting the kid drift is not going to improve future transfer offers. It is the manager's responsibility to find the space for new transfers to develop.

I simply cannot believe our league position requires such conservative selection. Do not run him out with frustrated disappointments. Stick him out there with Ndiaye and Grealish to help him get some meaningful touches and play into form.

Just as we cannot know what Moyes has seen in training, we cannot know what opportunities he has been given. Anyone would struggle to look impressive with some of our subs in adjacent positions. Moyes needs to promote some chemistry around the kid, Aznou too.

Nearly all the games have been a fight to the finish. And putting someone on who isn't drilled in how to track back, why would you take that risk, especially when you know McNeil knows how to do it?

The other 'problem' is our best player is in his position and has been flying. I don't think it's done him much harm, he's known this Christmas period is coming, he knows he's going to get a run now; if not starting, he'll be getting at least half-an-hour for the next few weeks. Let's see how he does.

I like the look of him, he's not only a great dribbler, he can pass too.

The other side to that argument is that, if you asked 10,000 Evertonians to name David Moyes's best ever signing, I think that over 9,000 would either vote for Timmy Cahill or Leighton Baines.

When we cast our minds back to when Baines first arrived, he not only couldn't get near the team, he was actually being kept out by a central defender.

Dibling might just be one of those players who needs time to adjust, or he might not be in the team for other reasons.

Lewis Skelly has played 195 Premier League minutes so far this season.

The very impressive Estevao 457 minutes, so equivalent to 5 games.

Dibling 87 minutes. The other two are tipped for the World Cup, yet Moyes is holding him back?

Dibling is in the Top 20 for minutes in the Premier League for players under 20. With Everton arguably carrying Barry, and perhaps others, it doesn't come as a surprise that Dibling hadn't forced Ndiaye, Grealish, Alcaraz or Dewsbury-Hall out of the attacking birth.

I still think Everton paid well over the odds, but maybe the men in suits think we can improve him and not lose money when he moves on?

Starting him against Arsenal when he is our only recognised right winger would represent such a chance.

But for those whinging about his lack of minutes, was Moyes supposed to remove Iliman Ndiaye to accommodate Dibling? It's a damn shame he's been brought in without a clear plan for his development, but if we'd stuck Dibling on instead of Ndiaye, we wouldn't have the points total we have.

The difference is that Beto is crap, so there was no real loss in sticking Barry in the lineup and enduring his meagre returns. There's a far bigger risk in doing so with Dibling because there was an established player in the position getting good returns, and we've needed results.

What I do think should have happened was that when, Ndiaye was taken off in one game (was it the cup tie?) Dibling should have come on instead of McNeil. I thought that was a terrible decision on Moyes's part.

Moyes is more intent on getting the right results than giving Dibling playing time.

Dibling in the meantime will be getting help to become a better player... at least he should be.

Dibbling may get on once McNeil does the usual or Grealish's tightness recurs.

McNeil might score one of those goals that have won us a few games or he just might turn on that display which helped us greatly the night we beat Brighton, when we really needed it.

That was 5-1 and he scored, provided the cross that got an og, and provided assists, proper assists, for a couple of goals.

Having said that, James was the most exciting player I've seen play for Everton since Rooney, but his lack of tracking back almost cancelled out his talent. It's now a vital part of the game, and hopefully it's something Tyler can get to grips with.

Ndiaye will be soon vacating that current spot for one of the Big Boys.

Relax over Ndaiye leaving for one of the big clubs?

Well, I don't doubt that's exactly what will happen but Dibling will have to show real improvement before I could relax over the change between them!

BBC pundit just after tipping Ndiaye to be the star of the Afcon.

Dave agreed, I think most people at this point would notice the 'swap'. But let's remember he's only a teenager. I remember thinking Trevor Steven flattered to deceive when he first arrived, I think he's on a steep learning curve at the moment. But the talent he has cannot be taught.