Leon Osman knows exactly what it takes to be a key player in a David Moyes team.
Leon Osman was one of the best players in David Moyes’ first reign at Everton, making well over 400 appearances for the club.
It did take Osman some time to establish himself under the Scotsman, so his learnings will be crucial for some of the young players in the current Toffees first-team.
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With that said, Osman has come out in defence of Dibling and explained that he has a big future at the football club despite not playing much this season.
However, he did pinpoint one area that the 20-year-old must improve based on his own experience playing under Moyes.
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Leon Osman says Tyler Dibling must improve off the ball to play under David Moyes
Speaking to the BBC, Osman explained that Dibling will have to significantly improve off the ball to get into Moyes’ starting line-up.
“When you move to the next level, you have to learn more things,” the former Everton star stated.
“And that doubles when you play for a David Moyes team, with his expectations of what you have to do off the ball.
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“This was probably one of the reasons why I took a bit of time to prove to David Moyes I could do that, but also one of the reasons I stayed in the team because in a David Moyes side what you do off the ball can be often be more important than what you do on the ball.”
Osman continued: “You have to prove that you can work for the team and you can work off the ball. Yes, you might make mistakes going forward, he will understand that 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.
Dibling will argue that he’s not had a chance to show his off-the-ball work, as he’s only made one appearance since January.
That was when he came off the bench in the 90th minute in a 2-0 victory against Burnley at the start of March.
Moyes has urged Dibling to step up in training, and the same goes for fellow summer signings Adam Aznou and Merlin Rohl.
It seems the Scotsman has a real loyalty to the old guard, so the new players need to almost do double to get a proper chance.
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