Pienaar from what I've seen gives a different kind of defense than Landon does, but he still expends a ton of energy with high pressure on the ball in ways that Landon doesn't. Landon at times looks a little lackadaisical pressuring the ball - although he saves his energy for other parts of his game - like tracking back on defense.
They're different players. There's something very odd about Pienaar's game that I can't quite put my finger on. Landon is a very straight forward player. World Class in space, excellent passing, can run at people, good dribbling ability, can finish well. Pienaar? I've been watching him for awhile and I still can't figure out what he's good at. All I know is that he's highly effective. Even if I do think he's always falling over himself.
I meant similar in terms of quality, not similar players but yeh! Pienaar, he is very skilful, he is good at commiting defenders and either skipping away from them or winning a free kick. He is at his best in a passing team using little triangles. He's a bit of a tough nut for his size too. If you watch South Africa much this summer, he is their key player, pretty much everything they do goes through him. He gets a lot of assists (he got 5 in one game a few years ago!) and scores some vital goals too. And he has good celebrations, haha: [ame="http://vimeo.com/8470873"][/ame]
I'm sold on Stephen Pienaar - great player. After watching so many Everton games because of Landon, I now know why he is so highly rated. That said, they are pretty different players. I'd compare Pienaar maybe more to Adu, or more accurately what Adu can hopefully become.
I've watched enough Everton for Timmy Howard mostly, to me Donovan is more talented and more threatening with or without the ball than Pienaar. The Gap is not very significant. Pienaar is way more consistent and more proven in EPL than Donovan, but if you gave Donovan a couple of years in the EPL... you could probably call it a wash. We have these discussions about world class and what not, but what sets apart Donovan apart from really most players is his speed of thought matches his speed of play. Both supremely talented players to be sure.
Donovan vs. Pienaar: Hard to say based on such a small sample size. If Donovan is playing for Everton this time next year I think it's fair to have this argument. I've been impressed at how fast he has adjusted to Everton and the EPL. It takes most players quite a bit of time to do that. By this time next year he could be playing even better...