Steven Pienaar

[BlueLion. 21,491]

All good points, but what do we do if Lampard gets injured again? Field another impotent midfield triumvirate of Essien-Mikel-Ramires? Or field someone who can inject some pace and creativity into the midfield?

[DYC. 7,542]

As long as CA doesn't trust the likes of Kakuta and McEachran enough to play them more, Pienaar would be a great signing (would let Benayoun go though if Pienaar would join us). It's better than overplaying our starters like CA is currently doing.

Calling him a average players only proves you don't know the player. Pienaar is a very good player, and we can use a quick, technically gifted player with great ball control in midfield and in general, and the fact that he can play on the left/right wing and in midfield makes him a very useful when struck by injuries or when players need a rest.

[HRiver 1,512]

Im so confused about how many of you wouldnt mind Pienaar at the Bridge. Pienarr is everything we DO NOT want. The midfield being filled with another average older player to knock our promising youngsters further down the pecking order is useless and unnecessary. Pienaar will not carry Chelsea over his shoulder and out of this slump. I want our own blood coming through and giving the best the have to aid our club. Pienaar would shift our midfield around way too much. Him on the pitch takes McEachran out of the picture, lowers the possibility of playing time for Kakuta, and could very well shift Zhirkov into a leftback taking VanAanholt's turn.

Do not want.

I couldn't have said it any better. Totally agree.

[Swoopz 183]

All good points, but what do we do if Lampard gets injured again? Field another impotent midfield triumvirate of Essien-Mikel-Ramires? Or field someone who can inject some pace and creativity into the midfield?

Dont forget we have Yossi, Zhirkov, Mikel, Ramires (whos improving at 100kmh) and an Essien trying to rediscover his form. If there is one thing we should have learned from missing Lampard, its that he is not easily replaced. Our entire rotation was thrown a loop. A Pienaar could not balance that. Its a useless addition to our team. I'd rather give some of Pienaar's wage cut to Ivanovic (who is reportedly payed less than Sturridge @ 60k p/week) and keep him happily at our club.

A new winger, defender, and hitman would shake the ladder right under the current top 4.

[Peace. 4,352]

C'mon guys, this is not because he doesn't cost £20 million and because he doesn't sell as much jersey as CR7 that he isn't a good player.

He remains a very good player. And a team doesn't need only world stars to be good. We have lacked of creativity when Lampard was injured and people were complaining about that. Now we can add a player who has a good creativity skill, people say who don't need this type of player...

[Madmax 9,219]

C'mon guys, this is not because he doesn't cost £20 million and because he doesn't sell as much jersey as CR7 that he isn't a good player.

He remains a very good player. And a team doesn't need only world stars to be good. We have lacked of creativity when Lampard was injured and people were complaining about that. Now we can add a player who has a good creativity skill, people say who don't need this type of player...

Rule # 1 of life - Some people are never satisfied.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Dont forget we have Yossi, Zhirkov, Mikel, Ramires (whos improving at 100kmh) and an Essien trying to rediscover his form. If there is one thing we should have learned from missing Lampard, its that he is not easily replaced. Our entire rotation was thrown a loop. A Pienaar could not balance that. Its a useless addition to our team. I'd rather give some of Pienaar's wage cut to Ivanovic (who is reportedly payed less than Sturridge @ 60k p/week) and keep him happily at our club.

A new winger, defender, and hitman would shake the ladder right under the current top 4.

At this moment in time, those three players are injured indefinitely, and we need an instant midfield shake-up.

[Swoopz 183]

Rule # 1 of life - Some people are never satisfied.

That doesnt even qualify as a rule.

Pienaar is class, sure, whatever, blah blah blah.. He helped me out in fantasy last year, so I guess that counts for something. But just because you find a nice looking puzzle piece, you dont just try to jam it into your nearly finished work. Im sure he would be handy, but the pro's dont outweigh the cons.

[Swoopz 183]

At this moment in time, those three players are injured indefinitely, and we need an instant midfield shake-up.

Kakuta, Josh, Ramires, Essien?

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Kakuta, Josh, Ramires, Essien?

As much faith as I have in McEachran and Kakuta, it is going to be another couple of seasons before they are regulars - two seasons where Pienaar can act as the stop-gap at £3 million, as opposed to signing someone for ten times that.

[Kostas 1,468]

A lot of very good points have been made but I'd like to add that something is going really wrong with the club when we're stacking Benayouns instead of stacking Lampards.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

A lot of very good points have been made but I'd like to add that something is going really wrong with the club when we're stacking Benayouns instead of stacking Lampards.

I'll repeat a point I made in another thread, as I think it is relevant - I think the reason we're buying this type of player is because of the UEFA financial fair play rules. Roman wants us to break even and I can honestly see us maintaining this conservative approach to the transfer market whilst we're attempting to break even. In a few years' time, where we should be operating at a profit, I can see us making a few more 'marquee' signings, but until then, we're going to have to look at pulling off coups and putting faith in the kids, whilst bringing in players like Benayoun and Pienaar to act as stop-gaps whilst the kids mature and are developing.

[Madmax 9,219]

That doesnt even qualify as a rule.

Why not?

Pienaar is class, sure, whatever, blah blah blah.. He helped me out in fantasy last year, so I guess that counts for something. But just because you find a nice looking puzzle piece, you dont just try to jam it into your nearly finished work. Im sure he would be handy, but the pro's dont outweigh the cons.

Let's list out the pros and the cons and then we'll see.

[Swoopz 183]

A lot of very good points have been made but I'd like to add that something is going really wrong with the club when we're stacking Benayouns instead of stacking Lampards.

Exactly!

[Kostas 1,468]

Then how is his price tag good for a stop-gap?

He'll be free at the end of the season and we're going to waste 3m when Real Madrid payed 10m for a player who had 6 more months on his contract, was 5 years younger and is perfrorming at a level Pienar couldn't dream of.

[Swoopz 183]

Why not?

Let's list out the pros and the cons and then we'll see.

A rule is a command, not a statement. What you stated was a lesson.

Pros: We have a replacement if Lampard get's injured again before Mikel, Yossi, and Zhirkov recover, before Essien rediscovers his form, and we decide to not play our own youngsters, AGAIN.

Cons: Everything you decided not to address.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

The fact we're paying £3 million now demonstrates a - how serious Ancelotti is to bring fresh blood in to the team, and b - that we need to be buying players.

Your point about Ozil is a fair one, but why would he want to come to Chelsea over Madrid? We simply don't have the financial pulling power any more, and we have to be contented with this type of signing, because it'll be a rare occurrence that we'll spend more than that on a footballer over the next couple of years.

[DYC. 7,542]

Lampard wasn't better than Benayoun/Pienaar when he joined us. Of course he was younger but still, he wasn't better.

And don't people realise you also need good players on the bench? People complain about our weak bench but when a player like Pienaar comes along to strenghten the bench, they don't want him? The likes of Hamsik, Sanchez or whatever won't join us to sit on the bench.

We still have one the strongest first 11's in the league, when they perform like they should, but we have a weak bench so the club should focus on that first. If we went out and bought someone like Sanchez now, he would probably still have to get used to the team and the league. It's better to get players like that in the summer.