David Moyes: Everton Needs a Right-Back Before Transfer Window Closes
David Moyes insists Everton still want a right-back – even with makeshift options.
David Moyes is clear. Everton need a right-back before the transfer window shuts.
The Everton manager has experimented, improvised and praised those willing to fill in, but he does not want to spend a season patching up a problem position.
Across pre-season and into the opening Premier League win over Crystal Palace, Moyes has leaned on Nathan Patterson, Merlin Rohl, James Garner and Jake O’Brien as potential solutions on the right side of defence. It works, for now. It is not his long-term plan.
“We definitely would like a right-back. We would,” Moyes said, spelling out the situation behind the scenes.
The issue is not just who can stand in at full-back. It is what that costs him elsewhere.
“For example today, while we're playing Merlin right-back, I couldn't play him in midfield as well,” he explained. “So, today keeps me short of numbers in midfield, and I'm having to balance a little bit of what we want.”
That balance is the heart of the dilemma. Rohl impressed again in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, backing up a strong pre-season with another assured display. He looks comfortable. He looks committed. But every minute at right-back is a minute lost from the middle of the pitch or further forward.
“He is keen to do well and show us that he could be a right-back, Merlin. And because of that, we're happy,” Moyes said. “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 problem is not a lack of willing candidates. It is that none of them are specialists.
Jake O’Brien is another example. Moyes likes what the defender brings when asked to shuffle across.
“Look, we can still play Jake O’Brien at right-back,” he said. “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.”
That preference matters over a 38-game season. So does the manager’s demand that any new arrival must raise the level, not simply make up the numbers.
“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.”
Rohl’s emergence has at least given Moyes a genuine internal option. His pre-season form has carried into competitive action, and the manager is not about to overlook that.
“Merlin in pre-season played really well. He certainly deserves the chance to play,” Moyes added.
So Everton push on, searching for a right-back who is not just cover, not just a body, but a clear upgrade. Until that deal lands, Moyes will keep juggling his resources – and hoping the window gives him the specialist he plainly wants.
