Tyler Dibling: The curious case of Everton’s £40m youngster

Former Everton Midfielder Leon Osman, who played under Moyes during his first spell in charge at the club, understands and sympathizes with the youngster’s situation.

Osman told BBC Sport: “This year has been an education. I would expect him to come back at the start of next pre-season and look like he’s ready to challenge for a first-team place.

“He’s had a whole year now to understand what’s expected of him, but let’s also not forget that within it all, Tyler is a young lad who is known to be quite a homebody.

“He’s moved the length of the country to live in a completely different environment, where he doesn’t know anyone, so that in itself 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 deliver every time in a completely different culture of football club. There has to be a level of understanding.

“Everton is a different environment to a lot of other football clubs, so it’s not always easy to hit the ground running, but his talent shows that if he fights and works as hard as he can, it will work for him.”

Osman credits Dibling’s time in the shadows Everton is an example of how Moyes nurtures young players, preferring to mold them to what he requires rather than adopting an instant “sink or swim” approach.

He said: “There’s no doubt as we’ve seen from his time at Southampton that Dibling is a huge talent, very naturally gifted, brilliant at dribbling the football. He was a free spirit.

“When you move to the next level, you have to learn more things. And that goes double when you play for a David Moyes team, with his expectations of what you have to do off the ball.

“That was probably one of the reasons why I took a little time to prove to David Moyes that I could do it, but also one of the reasons why I stayed in the team, because in a David Moyes team what you do off the ball can often be more important than what you do on the ball.

“David is well aware that there is no ‘one size fits all’ way of going about it. He knows talent. He understands characters. I think his character knowledge has definitely increased since his time away from Everton because he kept abreast of the modern player.

“He kept himself young through that next generation to keep him, so he understands this generation. I think he’s making sure everybody gets what they need.

“You have to prove that you can work for the team and you can work off the ball. Yes, you can make mistakes going forward, he will understand that it goes with the territory, but you have to make sure you do the job defensively going back because there has to be a balance within the team.”