Monday, May 04, 2009

Hair-Raising Display Proves Yossi Benayoun Is Beyond The Fringe At Liverpool

There’s a myth that fringe players don’t improve at Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool. That if a squad man went to Manchester United or Arsenal they will get better before being sold for at least as much as they were bought for.

But at Liverpool they’ll either be ignored or the confidence will be rotated out of them and they’re shipped off in a cut-price deal to Portsmouth.

Well, one fringe man is going a long way to battle against that notion… Yossi Benayoun.

Brilliant against Arsenal, he carried on where he left off against an admittedly shocking Newcastle.

Of course it doesn’t hurt that he’s started four of the last five games, but the little Israeli certainly seems to have grasped form from almost nowhere.

He’s gone from a player that no one would really care about if he left, to one of the main men in recent weeks.

Against Newcastle he got the first in the 3-0 victory – albeit off his knee – but it was his all-round threat which was really impressive.

Switching positions with another impressive performer in Dirk Kuyt, the Newcastle defence just couldn’t cope with the pair.

In truth the Newcastle defence probably couldn’t cope with the Chuckle Brothers at the moment, but that’s not to do down Benayoun’s contribution.

When he first joined Liverpool he looked every inch a player bought for a modest fee to try and plug a few gaps.

He was the king of losing the ball, but getting the crowd back on side by winning it back straight away. Now he doesn’t lose it in the first place.

While before he used to drift out of games, now he is a constant outlet, whether it be on the right, left or through the middle.

His first touch has improved, and so has his crossing. In fact he seldom wasted a ball yesterday.

Whether this is down to Benitez grabbing hold of him in training or just a little more confidence, most Liverpool fans don’t care

The end result is they’ve got a player worth more than the £5m they paid West Ham.

When you buy players for that sort of money there is always something missing, be it a little bit of skill, physicality or mental toughness.

You just have to hope that something wakes up in them and they fix the faults.

This is the case for Benayoun, while it never will be for the likes of Jermaine Pennant.

So with Benayoun stepping up to the plate, it negates the almost constant loss of one of Liverpool’s two talismans.

It’s amazing to think that Liverpool are still in a title chase with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard having only started 10 Premier League games together.

And as the captain returned after missing four games, Torres was left out as a precaution due to a hamstring injury.

Frustrating – especially if the title comes down to goal difference – but it’s not like they really needed them against Newcastle.

They defend like lemmings and, in the case of Joey Barton, tackle like animals.

There was just no need for his second half lunge at Xabi Alonso. The guy has a self-destruct button he constantly presses.

All this added up to another miserable afternoon for caretaker manager Alan Shearer.

“You should have stayed on the telly” chided the Liverpool fans at the end of the comprehensive 3-0 victory.

Shearer could only smile and agree on the touchline.

You’ve got to love Newcastle supporters’ optimism though, even after this.

They’ll still think they can stay up, that they’ve got the best fans in the world and that they are a massive club.

As one wag said, they could pretend the Championship was in fact the Premier League. Cardiff could be Chelsea if you squint and Barnsley’s kit looks a bit like Manchester United’s from a distance.

Going down also means they could actually win something, although they’ll be sad to learn the Anglo-Italian Cup is no longer running.

Or they’ll probably just go through a few managers and even more centre-halves trying to get back up.

Enough sniggering at Newcastle though, they’ll be plenty more time for that during the rest of the season.

For now, let a fringe man have his day.

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