Bi..Bilya.....Diniyar!!!

During the last couple of days I enjoyed reading multiple blogs and articles of both fans and pundits, who thought that the price for Joleon Lescott was (slightly) inflated. Just when I feared that the humour would die down, the usually-economic David Moyes spend approximately 10 million pounds on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, giving Russian sports sites and journals plenty of room to exercise their wit. From the start, I want to say that I genuinely don't mind Bilyaletdinov, despite his stable triumphs in the most-overrated Russian player poll and the rather popular abbreviation of his last name to something rather less polite, that sounds...you get the idea.

While not questioning the character of Diniyar Rinatovich Bilyaletdinov (rumours that John Motson is retiring, are fortunately unfounded) there are quite a few things that puzzle me. First of all, Moyes kept referring to Diniyar as a winger. The anecdote from the Russian team at EURO's was that when Bilyaletdinov came on, his tactical assignment was to stay the hell out of Zhirkov's way on the left and not get into Anyukov's legs on the right. The 24-year old definitely has some dribbling moves, although he's been rather reluctant to demonstrate them lately and a very good left foot. However, his right one (foot) is just for walking and despite his 186 cm frame, he isn't a presence in the air. Most striking, however, is that Bilyaletdinov was considered physically too weak for the Russian League; and his lack of speed and power as well as his inability to defend were the reasons why he hasn't developed into the player everyone thought he would. With such a history it is difficult to see him succeeding in the very physical Premiership, nevermind the ultra-physical Toffees. Anyways, best of luck to the lad, at least he leaves knowing that he won't make Everton any worse than they have been this season.