Find it pretty suprising that people are as optimistic about him. On a -10 to +10 scale for a game-to-game evaluation, he is usually around 0-1, rarely down to -3 or -4, usually not worse. But he also never has been any better than +3 for me... I totally agree, we should give our young players chances and we should be fine, when they show some sort of consistency. But at least once in a while, you would want to see something that reassures you that there is potential.
What potential has Dalot? That he looked slightly less awkward with the ball than Wan-Bissaka? He sure did but is that really something to rest your head on? I'd probably rather try playing Laird there and keep AWB as a backup, than keeping Dalot. Maybe, we could make some money with him, add a RB veteran or something.
Coincidentally, on my scale DvB had a very similar characteristic. Never the worst, never the best. That certainly is also a quality, but a club with ambitions should aim for more. Play Laird, Mejbri and Garner on a regular basis, if it doesn't work, at least we know in a year and can adjust the recruitment plans. Dalot hits all the marks to become a become the next Lingard or McTominay. You could get worse, sure, but whats the point in wasting time. With Donny at least you could say in a possession based system he might look totally different. But what about Dalot - he isn't dynamic, skilled and aggressive enough to be an attacking wingback. But he is also not great with his passes or ball handling for a Cancelo-like role of a tucked in RB-to-RM.
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