Everton's Search for a Right-Back Continues Amidst Makeshift Solutions
David Moyes has underlined that Everton are actively trying to bring in a specialist right-back before the transfer window closes, even as he leans on internal options to plug the gap.
The Everton manager has namechecked Nathan Patterson, Merlin Rohl, James Garner and Jake O’Brien as players who can cover the role if the club’s long-running problems on that flank drag on. But he made it clear that, for all their versatility, none of them change the basic equation: he wants a proper right-back.
“We definitely would like a right-back. We would,” Moyes said, laying out the situation. “But I think that we're all concerned about it because it's more that, for example today, while we're playing Merlin right-back, I couldn't play him in midfield as well.”
That, for Moyes, is the crux. Every time he patches up one position, he weakens another.
“So, today keeps me short of numbers in midfield, and I'm having to balance a little bit of what we want,” he explained. “Look, we can still play Jake O’Brien at right-back. He's proved, certainly against a lot of the quick boys, that he's really good and he'll give us something if we need it in that position. But he prefers to be a centre-back.”
Rohl has become the latest to step into the breach. The German continued his eye-catching pre-season form with another assured display at right-back in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, offering energy and composure in an unfamiliar role.
On Rohl’s impact, Moyes said: “He is keen to do well and show us that he could be a right-back, Merlin. And because of that, we're happy.”
“He can play other roles for us, which means that we can play him further forward, we can play them in different ways. He's got a different sort of level of athleticism to some of the other boys in some ways. And he's a good footballer, generally, and he can score if we get him closer to the goal. But he's also doing okay.”
The manager’s dilemma is obvious. Rohl and O’Brien are performing, yet the club continues to search the market. Any signing must be an upgrade, not just another body.
“Everybody's talking about a right-back, so I'm saying, well, I hope it's better than Jake O’Brien, I hope it's better than Merlin Rohl and what they're offering,” Moyes said.
“And obviously, we're always trying to get better than what we've got – in every position to be truthful. You're always, as a manager, you're trying and it's not that easy to just go and get yourself better than those two. Merlin in pre-season played really well. He certainly deserves the chance to play.”
So Everton press on. A squad stretching itself to cover one problem position, a manager refusing to settle for stopgaps, and a transfer window ticking down. The right-back they eventually land will have to be good enough to justify dislodging players who are fighting hard to make that shirt their own.
