Valery Karpin: None of our «Englishmen» returned with a bang

Spartak Moscow boss Valery Karpin responded to the accusations directed at Diniyar Bilyaletdinov that the former Everton man is not performing very well so far this term.

«Naturally, we are expecting more from Bilyaletdinov, but we can see at the moment that all our «Englishmen» [players who returned from the EPL – Sports.ru] are not shining at the moment. If you remember, it took Zhirkov about five games to adapt.»

«Why do people struggle coming back from the most physically demanding league in the world?»

«We have a physical league too, and they need to get into the rhythm. I heard from those lads that the rhythm is the key issue.»

«What do you think of recent rumours of a takeover bid for Spartak?»

«I don’t think about it. It’s not my job to worry about these things,» Karpin told Sovetsky sport.