The opening few games of the season have not been good. That’s brutally obvious by looking at the table.
Watching the games has been even worse at points. Sometimes, even against teams that aren’t that great, we look like we’re out of ideas.
You know who always had an idea or two? A crafty bit of running, a sneaky pass or, every here and there, a goal that would get us three points?
Yossi Benayoun would.
He was always the 70th minute sub. He was that guy that you could just bank on when your side needed a little pick-me-up.
I have a friend who is a Manchester United supporter who was an absolute king of backhanded compliments toward Liverpool players. I know he hates them, as he should. But he’s a good friend and I know he means well, so it doesn’t bother me.
His line on Yossi Benayoun was always this: “He’s good but I’m not sure he’s the kind of player that a club of Liverpool’s stature should have in their club.”
On some level, Chelsea putting in a bid for Yossi was a indication that my friend was wrong. He’s great to throw on late as a sub. He’s got good enough pace and can play all over the midfield-he’s best in a central attacking position but he’s not half bad on either wing. Why would Chelsea, who certainly have plenty of money to spend, go out and waste a squad number on Yossi if Carlo Ancelotti didn’t see something he wanted?
What more would a manager want in a substitute? He’s talented, adaptable and perhaps most importantly, being used in a substitute role doesn’t seem to bother him.
Take a look at our bench in last week’s 2-2 draw against Sunderland: Brad Jones, Daniel Agger, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Lucas, Maxi Rodriguez, Milan Jovanovich and David N’gog.
Who changes the complexity of the game after coming on in the 80th minute? David N’gog certainly did because he came in for the defensive-minded Christian Poulsen, but after that, who would?
Yossi would have. To me, that’s worth more than the fee we got for him.