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Yuri Zhirkov always looked like a player drawn with a ruler and a brush at the same time. A left-sided specialist with rare tactical elasticity, he could be a winger, wing-back or full-back without losing the thread of his game: smooth carrying, clever overlaps, quick combinations and a left foot educated enough to serve both possession and transition. At CSKA Moscow he was electric, one of the brightest Russian players of his generation, decisive in Europe and dangerous whenever the pitch opened in front of him. Chelsea never quite became his natural stage, partly through competition and injuries, but his quality was obvious. For Russia, especially around Euro 2008, he gave the team width, balance and imagination from deep. Not a pure defender, not just a winger, but a beautifully versatile left flank player with class, stamina and tactical intelligence.
