It didn’t take long for Liverpool’s no. 15 to eclipse cult hero Ronny Rosenthal as the club’s greatest ever Israeli player. Benayoun, or “Benny Noon” as David Pleat insists on calling him (the clue’s in the letters David) proved to be one of Rafael Benitez’s more prudent signings when signed from West Ham for £5m in 2007.
Yet recent speculation has linked the Israeli captain with a move away from Merseyside. Liverpool had already rejected a £5m offer from Olympiakos in January, before sources within Dynamo Moscow claimed Benayoun to have agreed terms with the Russian club in preparation for an Anfield exit in the summer. If he does leave for pastures new, he will be sorely missed. Sport.co.uk has a look at some of the reasons why.
1.) Vision – An intelligent player, Benayoun has great positional sense, times his runs well and hits the right channels. Most threatening towards the end of a game when defenders begin to tire, Benayoun is regularly introduced from the bench by Liverpool coach Benitez and on occasion has completely torn teams apart.
2.) Touch – Benayoun has great feet, his touch is flawless and he has the ability and the confidence to run at defences with the ball at his feet. In the absence of Gerrard and Torres, it is always Benayoun who is often singled out by opposition managers as Liverpool’s major threat.
3.) Work rate – Unlike a lot of wingers who have a tendency to go missing in games, Benayoun is a wide player who has the dedication to track back and support his full-back. He never shrinks away from making tackles, occasionally conceding free-kicks in dangerous areas in doing so, but you can’t fault his enthusiasm.
4.) Goals – When it comes to these Liverpool have a tendency to over-rely on lone striker Fernando Torres. Benayoun has stepped up along with the likes of Gerrard and Kuyt over the last couple of seasons to ensure the goals keep coming. The Israeli notched hat-tricks at Anfield in this season’s comprehensive 4-0 defeat of Burnley as well as 8-0 drubbing of Besiktas last campaign.
5.) Big game player – It’s all very well scoring when your team’s playing well, but Benayoun has hit his fair share of crucial goals in his time at Liverpool as well. His pivotal strike at the Bernabeu to give Liverpool the upper hand against Real Madrid in the Champions League won’t be forgotten in a hurry. Nor will his injury-time winner at Fulham about this time last season which gave the Reds renewed hope of winning the title. That goal prompted scenes of jubilation among the travelling support and Liverpool fans should keep their fingers crossed there are more of these to come.