hiː sˈʌfɚd sˈɛvɹəl ɐtˈæks əvən ʌnnˈoʊn mˈɛntəl ˈɪlnəs dˈʊɹɹɪŋ hɪz plˈeɪɪŋ kɚɹˈɪɹ, ænd mˈɪst ɪmpˈoːɹtənt ɡˈeɪmz bɪkˈʌz ʌv ɪt, bˌʌt wʌz "wˈaɪdli sˈiːn æz ðə bˈɛst sˈoʊviət fˈʊtbɔːlɚɹ ʌvðə dˈɛkeɪd".
He suffered several attacks of an unknown mental illness during his playing career, and missed important games because of it, but was "widely seen as the best Soviet footballer of the decade".