As Diniyar Bilyaletdinov departs for Spartak Moscow I sit here lamenting what could have been, says David Martin.
His arrival at Everton was greeted with much excitement by Evertonians as he came on the back of a glowing reference by Guus Hiddink. At a costly nine million pounds, a large transfer fee by Everton standards, we rightly expected great things and believe Moyes had finally signed the winger we had be crying out for.
Things certainly started off brightly enough. Bily as he quickly became known for both the media and Evertonians’ writing sanity, put in a promising debut performance in his opening starting appearance in blue against AEK Athens. He provided a number of creative passes and two assists in a comfortable 4-0 win and the forums were awash with comparisons to the gifted left foot and playing style of Kevin Sheedy, high praise indeed! However, it was also noted that he looked a little awkward and he certainly didn’t have the pace or ability to beat a man many were expecting. Nonetheless, initial signs were promising.
Sadly, this can be marked as one of few games were Bily is considered to have played well for a consistent period. Despite scoring a number of stunning goals it wasn’t long before people started to realise that he was not going to be a consistent performer. Often going from the sublime to the ridiculous in the space of minutes he would thread a great pass but the lose control of the most simple ball. He suffered badly due to comparisons with the far more industrious and hard working Pienaar and was dubbed lazy, clumsy and soon became a subject of derision for the boo boys at
Goodison Park.
The question remains however as to whether Bily was ever really given a chance to prove himself. Through the course of 77 appearances since signing in 2009 he has only completed four full games and has often been the first to be withdrawn. Often this has been justified on the back of some awful performances but there has also been a number of cases were he appears to have been chosen as a sacrificial lamb regardless of how he is performing. He was given little time to make an impact in a number of games often brought on for the last few minutes. Even when he did play well it was highly unlikely he would start the next game and it is easy to see how a player low in confidence with few minutes strung together on the pitch would struggle to sustain any level of performance or indeed form.
Although not a damning indictment of David Moyes’s treatment of him it is clear that once Moyes has decided you are not playing, it takes a mammoth shift in his World view to alter things. Meanwhile it must be frustrating to watch players in poor form be selected regardless. This isn’t to say Bily would have turned into the next Kevin Sheedy, this obviously isn’t the case. He always seemed just that bit off the pace and we will never really know whether he could have made it at Everton but it is the case that creative players struggle at Moyes’s Everton. David Moyes builds teams on endeavour and organisation and while this is a style that has built a solid squad, it isn’t one that accommodates the unpredictable nature of someone like Bily’s creativity.
Of course, there has also been much debate amongst fans that Bily was never played in his correct position and there is an argument for that. However, it isn’t necessarily the much lauded myth that he plays behind the striker which is based almost solely on the fact that he can strike a ball in stunning fashion from thirty yards. It is true that he is a player who needs to be utilised in an advanced position with few defensive duties. Something that was illustrated when he played alongside
Osman in a midfield advanced three at times last season.
Sadly, it will forever be a case of the what might have beens with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov as he is a player who clearly has a considerable talent that we could never quite fathom how to tap. There is no one person to blame for Bily’s failure to succeed at Everton although I wonder what Hiddink told Moyes he was! I will be one of few who still thinks we have missed out and wonder what a bit of confidence might have done for him. I will remember his goals fondly, the way he carried himself with dignity despite what must have been a difficult time in his career and hope he goes on to light up a league elsewhere.
Farewell to Bily, a Russian riddle and enigma.
January 26, 2012 
Comments Off 
Loading ...
Comments are closed.