What we learned from Everton 1-0 Wolves: Dibling demands trust and key man hits a dip

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Everton are through to the fourth round of the League Cup. They beat Wolves 1-0 in a match that was attended by two Prime Ministers, but hardly served up the entertainment to put on a show for two heads of state.

There really wasn’t tons to shout about, but here’s a few things we learned.

TYLER DIBLING MUST BE TRUSTED

While Jack Grealish was Everton’s main attacking outlet in the first half, Dibling became increasingly involved and had, by far, his best game in a blue shirt.

This was a coming of age moment for Dibling at Everton. He was superb. He looked to make things happen; he looked to beat his man and get to the byline. He made some fantastic, surging runs, where his turn of pace was on show, and he displayed some excellent vision when providing a sublime throughball into Brennan Johnson, who could not finish past the inspired Joao Virginia.

But what will likely please David Moyes the most is that, when Wolves broke as a result of Johnson’s miss, it was Dibling who got back to make the vital tackle.

The 20-year-old’s performance merited a goal involvement, and in the 80th minute, Dibling got his first Everton assist, prodding a nice pass into Carlos Alcaraz, who did the rest in style.

“Since he came back for pre-season, he's looked like he belongs here – he's looked more comfortable. He's a very quiet lad, Tyler, and it can sometimes take quiet, young lads quite a bit of time to settle in, especially at a club like this with the expectations that are here,” said Alan Irvine, who took over post-match media duties.

“That was probably difficult for him last year, but he's come back looking much more comfortable in the environment and able to play for a club of this size. You don't get loads of opportunities; you have to grab them when you get them and make sure that the manager's got a tough decision to make for the next game, and he's done that, which I'm really pleased about… He’s got so much talent.” 

Now, the onus has to be on Moyes to give Dibling more of a chance, and to start trusting him.

DEWSBURY-HALL IS IN A DIP

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is one of Everton’s best players. He is capable of special moments that turn a game, and you can never doubt his effort.

However, he is bang out of form, and Moyes’ reluctance to take him off doesn’t help.

So far, it’s a similar story to the end of last season in that Dewsbury-Hall is really not playing well, but Moyes is flogging him.

Alcaraz should have been utilised far earlier from the bench on Wednesday — the game was crying out for him from about the 60th minute onwards. 

The one defence of Moyes is that, with Harrison Armstrong having suffered a minor knock, and Merlin Röhl still out, there was no other midfield option from the bench, bar Alcaraz. And it seems that Hayden Hackney, who has himself been nursing a niggle, was not deemed ready enough to push to a full 90.

However, when Everton do have more options, then Moyes can’t keep flogging Dewsbury-Hall if this dip continues. Alcaraz has the attacking quality to produce match-winning moments, and should be used more from the bench.

Dewsbury-Hall’s form will come back — he’s a quality player, but don’t try to force it at this early stage.

IRVINE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

It’s funny how managers can elect not to do their media duties in the cup competitions, especially the early stages.

But, in this case, we got to hear from Moyes’ assistant Irvine, who gave a brilliant press conference.

His rapport with the reporters was clear, and it was fantastic to hear from a fresh voice, especially one who is closer with the players than Moyes is, as you would expect from an assistant.

Irvine’s comments on Dibling were enlightening, and suggested it has always been that the staff want to see more attacking confidence from the youngster, rather than being concerned by his workrate.

Moyes has a habit of being snappy with the media, whereas Irvine opened up and actually explained some of the thinking.

It won’t be a regular occurrence, but it was great to see.

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