Bily is showing some class - he's back

[billycopper]

Pienaar was constantly involved and would take the ball anywhere, under pressure or not. That has been one of Bilyaletdinov's major problems really, he has the attributes of a playmaker, but plays like a winger, drifting in and out of the game, and doesn't make an impact anywhere near as much as he should. You see him standing behind an opposition player when Baines is looking to start an attack and it's very frustrating. Comparing him to players like Beckham and Sheedy is ridiculous when his delivery is nowhere near that standard. He was took off set pieces for a reason. Don't get me wrong, he's got a good left foot, but not at that level.

He's shown he can shoot, score and get into some good positions, but as a wide player, looking at his all round contribution, he's been a major letdown really. He doesn't get involved enough and everything is hurried and rushed in possession. That being said, he's looked a little better in his cameo's of late. Seems to be getting the ball out of his feet more quickly and looking to get involved more, hopefully he can build on it.

For me Pienaar went walkabout too much and left Baines exposed. He didn't contribute enough goals or assists. Bily is picking up the pace of the game in this country. He'd probably like to be getting into the final third and getting on the end of things rather than setting the wheels in motion himself, but that's no bad thing. We need more players who want to score.

I totally disagree with you about his delivery. When we have seen him play as an out and out wideman, namely on his debut, he caused carnage in the opoosition area with his delivery from both open play and set pieces. When was he taken off freekicks and corners? Don't you have to be on the pitch to take those? That's Arteta's domain anyway, even though Bainsey has demonstrated that he's more effective with a dead ball at the moment.

Bily's not been given much of a chance. I hope that we don't look for a replacement for Pienaar because he's got everything in his locker to be a very special player for us. The one area of his game that I was concerned about was his attitude, but he's shown that to be first class.