Steven Pienaar

[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.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

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.

Care to enlighten us? Because as far as I'm concerned, you're not living in reality. The days of us buying players for £30 million have LONG since gone.

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.

Exactly. Pinenaar is a proven player in the Premier League, equally capable of scoring and creating goals as he is at defending. He is an excellent, dynamic midfielder and would fit easily into the Chelsea system.

[Swoopz 183]

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.

Our bench is weak because we only use half of it. We would start crippled veterans rather then put in fresh blood. Arsenal's bench are hungry youngsters waiting for starters to pick up an injury so they get their chance to shine. Thats what should be sitting on our bench, not a bandaid player.

[Madmax 9,219]

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.

For some reason you're getting hyper against me - chill out.

Re your 'pro', you need to realise that if Pienaar signs, he'll be a stopgap - there to fill in when Lampard is injured (which he is likely to be more often, judging by his words regarding his tendon and the constant care that it needs) or when he is rested (which will also happen more often, considering he is 34).

In 2 years Josh will be ready to take over what Lampard does for the team. In the meantime, so that he is not pressurized too much, it is ideal if we have a late 20s creative, hardworking midfielder who can fill in for Lamps. For 3 mil, Pienaar fits the bill perfectly.

So to sum up then -

Pros

1. In the age gap the club lacks players in (20s to 30s)

2. 3 million

3. Squad player but handy replacement for Lampard in the short term

4. Hard working, links the defence and attack

5. Creative, scores goals.

6. The entire team can't be made of superstars - you need good if not remarkable players as well. Look at Citeh.

Cons

None - and yes I believe that, it's not meant as a windup. We could do worse than a 3 mil Pienaar.