FanSided World Football
·12 December 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsFanSided World Football
·12 December 2024
The English media strikes again - Southampton forward Tyler Dibling has been lazily compared to Cole Palmer and Jack Grealish.
When a young English player breaks through, the media can be their best friend or their worst enemy. Subtle acts which appear nice, for example comparing the young player to already established players, can be detrimental. It would be more beneficial to allow the player to breathe.
Unfortunately, Southampton's prodigy Tyler Dibling is experiencing exactly this. While he is the diamond in the rough for Southampton, he is falsely becoming viewed as "someone to save" - Where have we seen this before?
Since the beginning of the season, Tyler Dibling has been compared to Jack Grealish and Cole Palmer. The Sun originally dubbed Dibling as "the next Jack Grealish" back in September, after he played well against Man United.
Southampton fans only hope that Dibling does not follow the same career path as Jack Grealish. While the Aston Villa legend has undeniably achieved huge success since his big-money move to Man City, he hasn't had even half of the impact at the Etihad as he did at Villa Park.
Now, Grealish hardly makes a subpar Man City team, performing in the worst form of their recent history. Grealish has started only five matches this season, so it's hardly a compliment for Dibling to be compared to him.
Then, more recently, Dion Dublin compared his playing style to Cole Palmer.
In his own words, Dublin said: "Do you know what it is? I don't want to put any pressure on him, but he plays his game like Cole Palmer, doesn't he? He plays free and easy, and he gets himself into good positions, rolls players and takes the ball well."
This is obviously a much greater compliment. Cole Palmer is one of the best players in the world right now and he is playing at the height of his game. However, it goes back to what I was saying before - It could be harmful in the long-run to make such comparisons early on.
There is a fascination within the English media with looking at overperforming players from stuggling clubs and paying heightened compliments to them.
Look, Dibling deserves all the praise in the world as watching him nestle his way into the Southampton lineup has been one of the happier moments from a depressing season.
Live