Bale looks increasingly like he needs to be rested. Obviously Luka can play there, but Pienaar or Niko are decent options too.
I would rather see Pienaar or Niko on the left then Modric who is far more effective in the middle of the park
That's been the problem mate, when has there been a top form Pienaar. I was quite surprised when Rose was brought on, thought he looked terrible for the time he was on too, lost control badly once and made a few sloppy passes. Would like to have seen Townsend given a chance, Blackburn would have known little about him and the element of surprise may have worked in our favour at the time. I'm surprised Sandro wasn't brought on, was he carrying another knock? Could have used him to help Scotty break up Rovers attacks.
There was a top form Pienaar for Everton for many, many games. It's just for us, he's been perpetually injured. Had he been fit, I'd have wanted him in all the games I've mentioned, and I think he would have made most match day squads. In his brief moments of fitness last season, he was a squad regular and played quite a few starts. AS KH said, for the fee it seemed a no-brainer to me, and I was all for signing him. The only thing that now makes me question that move was the info that he was injury-prone at Everton, something I wasn't aware of. Furthermore, I don't recall the issue being brought up when he signed. Re Sandro, he had a relapse with his injury I believe, he certainly wasn't fit to play, and Harry said so afterwards. Livermore has played an awful lot of games lately, so maybe why he didn't play, when the game was crying out for him. But, given our injuries, I think a fit Pienaar would have made the squad and been a better sub than Rose.
His starts were down to Bale's injury mainly, plus the fact that Redknapp seemed to just not want to play Niko for what ever reason also helped Pienaar get the starts he got too. Yeah it's true, £2m for a player who'd recently won a clubs POTY and seemed to have good pedigree about him looked at the time, a good bit of business... Unfortunately its not worked out. I don't think he'll get many chances when he's fit anyway, especially in the league unless we get a mass of injuries on top of what we already have. Even at current, providing a sub wasn't needed for an injury, Defoe will always be brought on, if Lennon starts on the right with Rafa behind Ade and Modric and Parker in the centre of the field - Sandro will come on from the bench (otherwise Lennon will come on as Rafa would have been on the right) and for the final sub if he was fit, it'd be between him and Livermore I think, depending on how the game was panning out. Injuries are a nightmare for new players, makes it hard for them to get in the team and his poor form in the brief appearances he'd made hasn't helped. I genuinely forgot about him until I read your article, which is a shame really as no player should be forgotten... I really hope he returns from injury and gets a chance to make me eat my words, it's a matter I'd love to be proved wrong on but I just feel with the first team we have at the moment and the impressive youngsters coming through added to the already good subs we have, Pienaar, probably more than anyone is going to find it tough to get in the team.
I think it is, don't you. He's certainly been more than good enough for our squad over the last decade or so, and he's been absolutely vital to Chelsea winning 3 titles, compared to our, er, none. I really wouldn't go down that route HBIC, but feel free to do so if you want
Well said NSIS, and I take your points SOS. We differ though, because I think a fit Pienaar will/would be a regular squad member, and given the amount of games we play, an occasional starter too. My guess is, had he been fit all season, he's have been in the majority of squads, started at least 3 games, and probably have featured in about 7 overall.
Having one of Makalele or Essien doing most of his job for him in midfield helped that. Take them away, and behind the Gerrard/Lamaprd failure or whichever ill-advised trio AVB puts in front of him, suddenly he doesn't look anywhere near as dominant as he's been made out to be.
He's played enough for me to realise that he isn't as good a player as I thought he was. He shouldn't have needed much time to adjust as he's been in the league long enough and when a team like Chelsea are also interested, I expected some form of decent contribution, which he hasn't provided really. I never really understood his signing in the first place apart from the fact that it was a good bit of business in terms of the fee. Was it even a "Redknapp" signing? I don't really remember him talking up the deal much and didn't speak much on when he actually signed. Perhaps Levy had an idea of buying him on the cheap in hope of selling him for a profit? Either way, whether I'm being harsh or not, I don't rate the guy, feel we have better options and in all honesty would rather we get rid asap to get his wages of the bill which could be used to attract a top quality striker in January or the summer. In all honesty how many Spurs fans on here have said "we really could have done with Pienaar that game"? I'd be amazed if more than 3 people say they did. As I said in a previous comment I hope he proves me wrong but I just don't see it.
If he cost us £10m+, I'd be slating him. But he only cost us £2m, so I'm prepared to wait until he's fully fit before passing judgement. Strange how the cost of a player can alter your opinion of them.
I'm a relatively new and ignorant fan, but the only times I've seen Pienaar I've noted how bad his passing is. He's really looked awful. I've become a big fan of Kranjcar, on the other hand, for just the opposite reason: he consistently picks out the intelligent pass and completes it. I was especially impressed with him vs. Man U, when his cautious choices were the main thing that helped Spurs maintain possession.
If that was a typo and you meant peanut then i'd be 1 of the 3. Quite partial to a peanut or 2 during a game. Stops me biting my nails
He's still been a vital part of a trophy-winning machine, only outscored in England by Man U over the past decade, so your point just doesn't work
I think you're being incredibly harsh on Pienaar SOS, but fair enough, all about opinions, etc. Incidentally there are training pix up on Twitter, so anyone seen E-N-double A- R in them
You've invalidated your own point by calling them a "trophy-winning machine" whilst admitting that they've been eclipsed by MUPLC in that entire period, which implies that the machine has some malfunctioning parts. Also, they finished third in the 2008-9 season, where Essien was out until March - the two are not unconnected.
He never seemed to get injured at Everton but since he left he's had about 4 injuries for us and another on international duty. I was glad we signed him and as soon as he gets fit he can give Lennon a run for his money on the right. It can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned, Lennon's been below par for awhile.
