Liverpool Sign Benayoun
July 11th, 2007 by EoinApparently Liverpool signed Yossi Benayoun today. I take a few hours off and I miss a signing! We all knew it was coming I guess, but still happened kind of suddenly. Although it does appear that he may not have passed his medical yet…
I for one am delighted with this deal. He’s moving from West Ham for an initial £3m, rising to £5m depending on certain clauses. While West Ham often used him as a winger I believe he is the replacement for Luis Garcia and that he is a step up in class.
Despite all the crucial Champion’s League goals Garcia scored in his time at Liverpool he never really adapted to life in the Premiership and was never able to break down stubborn defences. Benayoun is already suited to the Premiership and will be able to add that missing bit of creativity in the center of the park. I expect him to be used mostly as a substitute but that he will prove his worth.
Another great piece of business by Rafa! Now, who’s next…?
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July 11th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Still holding out for Quaresma? After Babel I’d be surprised if there was anyone else, except maybe a defender.
July 11th, 2007 at 11:48 am
My gut feeling is still that we won’t sign Babel. We’ll only get one out of Quaresma, Babel, Simao and Mancini alright and then maybe Heinze or a centre-back. I think Quaresma would give us that something special we’ve been missing.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Babel is a done deal pretty much. Should sign today.
July 11th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
If you’re right I hope we sign someone else aswell. Babel isn’t a natural winger and isn’t very experienced.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
He’s not exclusively a winger but he does play there regularly and with great success. I think it’s that versatility that makes him such an attractive prospect. As for signing someone else for experience, we do still have Kewell - who, injury-free and fresh, has the ability to be amongst the best in the business.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I don’t think we can count on Kewell and then Pennant is too hit and miss. The first team’s wingers will have to come from what we buy this summer.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
A fully fit Kewell is probably less of a risk than Quaresma, who, from what I gather, has a shocking bad attitude and is wholly over-priced for a player whose only excursion out of the portugese league was essentially an abject failure. He looks good, I’ll grant you, but there’s certainly no guarantee that he’d adapt well to the premiership.
Likely as not, Benayoun, Pennant and Gerrard will rotate duties on the right. I don’t mean to suggest it’s ideal but Benitez talked of two more players, specifically to play on the wings, and lo and behold we’ve got two more players. If he brings in any more, it’ll be a bonus but I think we’ve got enough to be seriously in the mix as we are.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Since Liverpool have never seen a fully fit Kewell and he wasn’t fully fit for another season or two before he joined us I seriously doubt we’ll get a fully fit Kewell this season.
Quaresma is a risk, but all flair players are risky. I think it is a risk we need to take if we are to challenge this season. Not necessarily Quaresma but somebody like him. Benayoun, Pennant and Gerrard rotating on the right isn’t good enough. Babel and Kewell rotating on the left has too many ifs and buts for my liking.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d be very happy to see us sign Babel. What I’m not liking is the idea of signing him as our left winger when we could get Simao, Quaresma or Mancini.
Rafa’s done well this summer but I feel he needs to take a gamble on an out-an-out winger if he is going to lead us to the title. Benayoun and Babel would be good signings and would prove useful squad players but wouldn’t bring us that something extra.
July 11th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I think you’re misremembering the extent of Kewell’s injury trouble. They really only started towards the end of his time at Leeds. Prior to that he was one of the best wide players in the world. There’s an element of risk but if Rafa hasn’t tried to offload him, then I think Kewell, Babel, Riise and Aurelio(maybe even Leto) is what we’ll get down the left. I think you’re doomsaying a bit unneccesarily.
Don’t know much about Mancini but I don’t know what all the fuss was about Simao. I’d take Benayoun over him any day. I’m also not entirely sure what you mean about an out-and-out winger. What does an out-and-out winger give us that a winger who can pull inside or play more centrally offer us? The reason Quaresma featured high on our list of targets in the first place was, surely, because of his ability to play in the hole as well. What we’ve needed over the last few seasons is a creative player with the ability to unlock defences. We’ve just signed three and we have, potentially, another one coming back from a lengthy lay-off - fresh and determined to prove a point. It’d be lovely to have another but we’re making progress.
At the moment it looks like Rafa will use Kewell and Pennant(and yes I share your reservations there) as his more direct wingers and Yossi/Babel when he wants someone who will cut in and cause a bit of chaos. It’s also possible we’ll see him using a Dutch-style three-pronged frontline more often.
I’m curious, do you not remember the FA cup final two seasons back when Benayoun ran us ragged and still managed to, somehow, turn up at the back throwing in decisive challenges. He’s a real Liverpool player and I’m betting he’ll have a much bigger impact that you’re imagining he will.
July 11th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I’m not going to get into the Kewell thing. I’d love to see the Kewell of old terrifying defences in a Liverpool shirt but realistically after 4 years at the club it would have happened by now. I can’t think of a single player who returned to form after 4 years of injury lay-offs, can you?
By an out-an-out winger I mean someone who runs the touchline and stays out wide. One of the reasons that we’ve struggled to break down defences has been that Pennant is the only player on our books who doesn’t come inside (and Kewell but he hasn’t played) and he’s been hit and miss. Looked good at the end of last season though so fingers crossed.
I am happy with this summer’s signings but I feel that the special players are within our grasp and it would be a missed opportunity not to grab them. Having said that though I trust Rafa’s judgment on the players who can do what he wants.
You’re right about the 3 pronged attack. A player like Babel looks very suited to that system. Benitez used a 4-2-3-1 system at Valencia and it looks like he’s signing players for that now too. Hope he remembers to keep his 4-4-2 options open for the Premiership though.
Did you read my initial post Bif? I’m delighted with the signing of Benayoun. I expect him to do well and think he might be the next Ray Houghton (not that I like to compare players like that, but in terms of the options he brings).
My reservations are about the squad not the player. The fact he can contribute defencively is good, but why do we always look to sign wingers who can defend. A winger who can attack gives more going forward and sometimes that’s what is needed. It’s not like Finnan needs much help now is it?
July 11th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been plagued by injury and frequently played a major part for United. Patrick Berger was in sparkling form for Villa towards the end of the season. There are others. If a player has the right attitude and the right environment etc, then there is no reason why he can’t make full comeback. Kewell showed extended glimpses of his old self last season and given the chance, he could well repay us in spades. I have a feeling that, if he stays injury free, he will. Only time will tell.
I’m guessing we’ll see the formation rotate as much as the personnel next season.
Even John Barnes in his pomp was expected to get back and help out. Why is a willingness to dig in a drawback? Benayoun can attack. With lethal intent. He is creative. More so than Houghton in my opinion. He can go past players. He can run the touchline. It’s just he can do alot more. He’s not Ronaldo but who wants some perfume ponce preening himself when the opposition are pressing down on you.
The discrepency in our opinions here boils down to this one thing. I don’t believe it all comes down to whether we have a player who can run into the corner and throw in a cross. It’s handy, yes, but what we’ve lacked, since Houlliers time even, is true creative attacking players. We’ve just signed three players capable of unlocking a defence. Man Utd won the league last season with only one orthodox winger - Ryan Giggs, and he played most of the time in the middle of the park.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Having said all that the Quaresma rumours are still persisting. Ath. Madrid have supposedly pulled out of a bid for him, suggesting we might still be courting him. So maybe we’re going to get our Kate and Edith, after all.
July 11th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I think we agree more than we disagree here.
A fully fit Kewell would be great and he did show encouraging signs at the end of last season. Having said that I don’t think he played in more than 5 games and he didn’t complete a single 90 minutes. Solskjaer did well for part of last season but is injured again. Berger had a decent cameo even by Villa’s standards. I take your point though.
Kewell can be useful but I don’t think we can rely on him next season. If we can get another first choice left-winger we should and if Kewell gets fit he should be good enough to get into the team. I do have my doubts about Kewell’s attitude though. As in I wonder if he has the mental strength required to get back on form.
A willingness to dig deep is no bad thing. All I’m saying is that those who tend to be able to tend to be decent going forward whereas the truly gifted attacking players don’t tend to do defensive work. I think our squad needs both. And yes, I’d take Ronaldo.
I think we need true creative attacking players and wingers who can stay wide and cross. Giggs did play wide at times and don’t forget Ronaldo.
Benayoun will give us creativity. Who are the other two we’ve signed?
July 11th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
The other two? Torres and Babel.
The thing is, I wouldn’t take Ronaldo. I dislike any player who won’t chase back. All the true greats did.
We do, on the whole, agree. I just don’t think it’ll be a major disappointment if we don’t sign anyone after Babel.
July 11th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Babel hasn’t quite signed yet and Torres has been signed to finish the chances not to unlock defences and create chances.
Henry? Ronaldinho? Not known for tracking back but they are great players. If Ronaldo repeats last season’s displays he won’t be far off either.
If we don’t sign anyone after Babel we’ll have a very stron squad with good balance and might just challenge. If we signed one “special” player I would expect us to challenge rather than hope.
Nice to have the majority of signings in place for pre-season training though!
July 11th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Yes, I’m talking on the basis of Babel signing.
Torres has been signed to do a lot more that just finish off chances. He is very much the sort of player who can unlock defences and create chances for both himself and other players.
There’s actually a big difference being not being known for tracking back and acting like your above it. I’ve watched countless clips of Ronaldo losing the ball and not even chasing back to recover it. Henry was a striker and they get special dispensation, up to a point. Sometimes he could have done a bit more but, when their back was to wall, he generally didn’t go missing. Strange as it may sound, I’ve never been completly convinced by Ronaldinho. He’s got quality but I wouldn’t put him up there with Maradona or Cruyff or Best.
I’m sorry but there really isn’t any one ’special player’ that’s going to turn us in to a great team.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
No but the lack of a special player can stop you being a great team. We’ve already got the other components required to make us great. That special something is all that’s missing now.
July 11th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Ok, I know what you mean but I think we do have some special players in the likes of Gerrard, Alonso, Carragher and now, hopefully, Torres. They’re top class quality players. But yes, I kow what you mean.
Have you heard this yet.