Everton's Right-Back Dilemma: Moyes Calls for Reinforcements

David Moyes insists Everton still want a right-back – even as his makeshift solutions impress.

David Moyes is adamant: Everton still need a right-back before the transfer window shuts.

The Everton manager has been juggling options for weeks, leaning on versatility and improvisation to plug a position that has nagged at the club for too long. Nathan Patterson is the only natural right-back in the squad, yet Moyes has already flagged Merlin Rohl, James Garner and Jake O’Brien as players he can shift across if the recruitment team fail to deliver.

He does not want to live like that.

“We definitely would like a right-back. We would,” Moyes said, spelling out the situation after the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

The problem is not simply filling the shirt. It is what that emergency cover 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 has defined Everton’s opening to the season. Rohl, signed as a midfielder, has forced his way into the conversation with an eye-catching pre-season and another composed display against Palace. He looks comfortable. Energetic. Adaptable. But this is still a workaround, not a plan.

Rohl’s rise has at least given Moyes a genuine in-house option. The Scot clearly likes what he sees.

“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.”

That last line carries weight. Rohl is doing “okay” at right-back, but Moyes knows his ceiling might sit higher elsewhere on the pitch. Every minute he spends at full-back is a minute Everton lose a potential weapon in midfield or further forward.

Jake O’Brien offers another twist. Naturally a centre-back, he has already shown he can cope out wide against pace, giving Moyes at least one more emergency lever to pull.

“Look, we can still play Jake O’Brien at right-back,” Moyes 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 is the recurring theme. Players stepping up. Players filling gaps. But not players in their best roles.

Moyes knows the scrutiny. “Everybody's talking about a right-back,” he said, before adding a pointed challenge to the club’s recruitment work. “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.”

The bar has been set by his own squad. Any signing now has to come in and immediately look an upgrade on two players who have not let him down.

“And obviously, we're always trying to get better than what we've got – in every position to be truthful,” he added. “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 continue to search, knowing that every day without a new right-back forces Moyes to keep shuffling his pack. Rohl and O’Brien have bought the club time. The question is how long that can last before improvisation turns into a problem.