Rafa on Benayoun and Garcia

[fred milne]

The Spanish boss believes Benayoun can fill the gap in the squad vacated by the recently departed Luis Garcia.

 

“They are similar,†agreed Benitez.

 

“Maybe Luis is a player who scores more goals and Benayoun tends to make more assists. Like Luis, he is a very technical, clever player with a lot of game intelligence. He can also play in many positions, giving us a different option for the team.

 

“I first saw him play for Racing Santander in La Liga when he was a really good player, but when he first came to England we were watching to be sure he could adapt to a different style of football.

 

“It’s clear he’s done this very well at West Ham. Liverpool fans will remember how he played in the FA Cup Final against us when he was outstanding. We thought then this was a player who is capable of stepping up to a higher level.â€

 

As with recent signing Fernando Torres, Benitez says Benayoun’s determination to move to Anfield was a key factor in the Reds sustaining their interest.

 

“He was offered a big new contract at West Ham and received offers from a lot of other clubs offering him more money,†explained Benitez.

 

“But Yossi’s message was always the same. He said he was desperate to only join Liverpool because this was his dream. When Rick, the Americans and I spoke about the player, we all agreed this is the kind of attitude we and our supporters really like.

 

“When you have quality players with his ability showing so much passion to play for your club, it’s really good for the team.â€

 

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liv...-name_page.html

[Extraordinary Swindle]

As with recent signing Fernando Torres, Benitez says Benayoun’s determination to move to Anfield was a key factor in the Reds sustaining their interest.

 

“He was offered a big new contract at West Ham and received offers from a lot of other clubs offering him more money,†explained Benitez.

 

“But Yossi’s message was always the same. He said he was desperate to only join Liverpool because this was his dream. When Rick, the Americans and I spoke about the player, we all agreed this is the kind of attitude we and our supporters really like.

 

“When you have quality players with his ability showing so much passion to play for your club, it’s really good for the team.â€

Hopefully Daniel Alves will show the same level of commitment to joining Liverpool. Finnan isn't going to be around forever and it would be great to get Alves to replace him as he comes in to his prime.

[Ronnie Whelan]

Firstly, nice to have the forum back.

 

 

Secondly, i think he will fill the void left by Luis. He was excellent against us in the FA Cup final and if Rafa thinks he can move to the next level then I am happy with that. Also, probably the most important point is that he has good premiership experience so he should be able to knit seamlessly into the squad, which is going to be important if we are to challenge.

[fred milne]

Hopefully Daniel Alves will show the same level of commitment to joining Liverpool.

I've hardly seen him linked to us at all this summer. I'd be surprised if we land him now.

 

Getting back to Benayoun, I think he'll turn out to be a useful signing based on what I've seen of him playing against us. Maybe not the goals out of nothing that Garcia offered but perhaps less careless with the ball and better at playing others in?

[Leo No.8]

I've hardly seen him linked to us at all this summer. I'd be surprised if we land him now.

 

Getting back to Benayoun, I think he'll turn out to be a useful signing based on what I've seen of him playing against us. Maybe not the goals out of nothing that Garcia offered but perhaps less careless with the ball and better at playing others in?

 

His goalscoring record hasn't been great since he arrived in England Fred, but he has suffered from injuries and playing in a struggling side; his record is surprisingly good previously to signing for West Ham.

 

I watched a lot of La Liga the last season he played in Spain, and saw him absolutely take Madrid apart practically single-handedly in one game, his first 45 minutes was one of the best individual performances I've seen from anyone. That was why I wanted Benayoun here originally when he left Santander and we were linked with him. Towards the end of that last La Liga season he scored a superb hat-tirck playing just off the striker and ended up with 9 goals in 34.

 

His career record is actually 96 goals in 290 games in total, which for a midfielder is top class. He was prolific in Israel in his earlier seasons which of course wasn't at the highest level, but regardless I think he knows where the net is and playing amongst better players he could surprise a few by getting on the scoresheet far more regularly.

 

As with Smicer and Garcia, I feel his best positon is in the hole off a lone striker but he'll mostly play out wide because of our other options. I think at the bare minimum he's a cracking little player and an ideal replacement for Garcia, but I've seen him show a lot more than even that in the past. Could be here he really shows what he can do.

[psl]

His goalscoring record hasn't been great since he arrived in England Fred, but he has suffered from injuries and playing in a struggling side; his record is surprisingly good previously to signing for West Ham.

 

I watched a lot of La Liga the last season he played in Spain, and saw him absolutely take Madrid apart practically single-handedly in one game, his first 45 minutes was one of the best individual performances I've seen from anyone. That was why I wanted Benayoun here originally when he left Santander and we were linked with him. Towards the end of that last La Liga season he scored a superb hat-tirck playing just off the striker and ended up with 9 goals in 34.

 

His career record is actually 96 goals in 290 games in total, which for a midfielder is top class. He was prolific in Israel in his earlier seasons which of course wasn't at the highest level, but regardless I think he knows where the net is and playing amongst better players he could surprise a few by getting on the scoresheet far more regularly.

 

As with Smicer and Garcia, I feel his best positon is in the hole off a lone striker but he'll mostly play out wide because of our other options. I think at the bare minimum he's a cracking little player and an ideal replacement for Garcia, but I've seen him show a lot more than even that in the past. Could be here he really shows what he can do.

 

Agreed. I'm very pleased with this signing, think he'll surprise people as Peter Crouch did.

[genghis]

I also like to think that maybe Yossi (and a few of the other signings) will show our allegedly much superior players how to run off the ball more intelligently, so making space for passes and gaps for other runners. It's been our biggest systematic flaw for years, and only Stevie and Luis seemed to have a good idea of how to move without the ball. I wonder if this is one of the qualities that Rafa is looking for in the new signings...you don't need pace as much as guile and brains when you're playing against packed defences... and Benayoun looks to have that in spades.

[Cam]

The Spanish boss believes Benayoun can fill the gap in the squad vacated by the recently departed Luis Garcia.

 

“,â€.â€â€œâ€œIt’s’â€â€™s“â€.“’s“it’s.â€

What's the secret code... Chinese for 9/9/99?