Even if clichéd, there is some truth in the thought that a small statement can conceal a large amount of thought.
Yevgeni Balyaikin set to feature in the midfield for Rubin Kazan
While nowhere near the succinct profundity of a Bashō haiku, one recent line from the mouth of Gurban Berdiýew could portend the future of Rubin Kazan’s midfield.
Or that is, at least potentially, what is at stake with Berdiýew recently singing the praises of Yevgeni Balyaikin.
In a recent interview that revolved around issues of Rubin Kazan’s future, with speculation over a number of key players departing in the winter, Berdiýew was quick to point to the promise of the twenty-one-year-old midfielder.
Responding to a statement over Rubin’s good track-record in developing talent, Berdiýew offered a proclamation: “Next year should be Balyaikin’s year.”
On the one hand, a coach merely mentioning his expectations for a specific player is sometimes the clinical administration of an ego-injection, the not so subtle passing-on of confidence to a player diagnosed to be in need of it. On the other, it sometimes is a signal that another player’s departure is imminent.
The likely candidate, in this regard, is Aleksandr Ryazantsev. With Ryazantsev’s contract set to expire, Berdiýew appears to have resigned himself to a realistic pessimism about his club’s ability to retain this increasingly important asset. Talk of Balyaikin, then, is Berdiýew’s early attempt to prepare Rubin fans, and himself, for the future.
In 2004, at the age of sixteen, Balyaikin debuted with his hometown club, FK Sibiryak Bratsk, currently of the Second Division (East Zone). Moving up the ranks in the Siberian club, he scored eight goals in their first team between 2005 and 2006. Such a display was enough to receive an invitation to the Russian National youth squad, which Balyaikin then quickly parlayed into a Premier League promotion. Rubin Kazan picked him up in 2007, and since making the move he has steadily been acclimatized to his long-term role for the Tatar club.
This year Balyaikin has not only established himself as an integral component of the U-21 national squad, but has begun to receive more and more nods from Berdiýew, primarily coming on as a substitute for Gökdeniz Karadeniz and Ryazantsev (he has even received a few starting spots).
Balyaikin’s 16 appearances this year, while subdued in their effects, appear in retrospect as his slow-and-steady assumption of midfield responsibilities. Perhaps Berdiýew, in his reflective calmness, has already prepared himself to hear at this time next year, or maybe the year after, of the many European clubs who are calling upon Balyaikin’s services.
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