Everton are less than a month away from their first Premier League game of 2026/27 – and fans will be pleased about Merlin Rohl’s latest verdict on Tyrique George.
The Toffees are edging closer to the new Premier League campaign, and have now played two pre-season friendlies.
On Saturday, David Moyes’ side played out a 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers.
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It was a bit of a disappointing display, with Everton lacking creativity. Harrison Armstrong was a bright spark, but the main thing was that players got more minutes under their belts.
Merlin Rohl played as a right wing-back and then as a right-back and seemingly he could be starting the new season in Everton’s defence.
After the game, he spoke about his adaptation to right-back, and made an interesting comment about Tyrique George.
Tyrique George must be made an Everton starter from the off
George is one of three Everton transfer deals so far this summer.
The club moved to sign him from Chelsea permanently after his loan spell in the second half of 2025/26.
He didn’t play all that much while on loan, but he still managed to convince David Moyes to sanction a move for him.
Fans are already imploring the manager to make George a starter from the very first game of 2026/27.
And what Merlin Rohl said after the draw with Bolton adds further weight to that argument. He said: “Going against someone like Tyrique (George), who is so good at unbalancing you, it’s the best training you can have as a right-back.
“His movements are so sharp. We all know about Tyrique’s capabilities in a one-on-one. I always tell him, ‘Go easy, please’.”
Rohl may be learning the ropes of the right-back position, but this is still a ringing endorsement from the German.
And it should make the decision simple for Moyes.
George had a number of good cameos last season, and now it’s time to unleash him as a starter.
Everton need that pace and unpredictability out wide, and no one else can really bring that apart from George.
Dwight McNeil remains an Everton player and there will likely be a good chance that he starts that opening game against Crystal Palace if he’s still here.
That shouldn’t be the case though, as the focus should be on developing George and giving him a chance to raise his confidence and make an impact.
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