Similar to when I gave a shout-out to Ji Sung Park, I feel it necessary to highlight the excellent play of another winger in the premiership. I'll give you a few hints to who this mystery man is (besides the photo). He is Israeli, owned by one of the biggest clubs in Europe, his name does not rhyme with Smen Smahar, and remember I said he was playing well (so that rules out Tal Ben Haim). Yes, it is indeed the diminutive, scrappy, creative, and currently wonderful Yossi Benayoun. I think it was not a coincidence that when Yossi was missing from the lineup against Middlesbrough that the team slumped to an embarrassing 2-0 defeat. His absence was emphasized with his wonderful performance against Sunderland, which he capped off with a goal.
If we rewind the clock two years, we will find Yossi impressing for an over-achieving West Ham side that took the premiership and FA cup by storm. He was picked up by Liverpool that summer, and impressively avoided falling into a bin of players that look fantastic for smaller sides where they run the show, but cannot find their niche in a European power house's lineup. The most relevant example that comes to mind is Jermaine Pennant, who failed to impress at Liverpool.
Unfortunately for Liverpool fans,* Yossi, the goal scoring hero at the Bernabeu, will be missing for the upcoming 2nd leg of Liverpool's tie against Real Madrid. And with the departure of Jermaine Pennant during the January transfer window, they will likely deploy Stevie G on the right wing, which I do not think is a satisfactory plan B for a club of the magnitude of Liverpool. I am not going to blow up Benayoun's importance to the team, or Real Madrid's chances of turning this tie on its head, but should something go horribly wrong for Liverpool, I can guarantee you that Yossi's absence will be one of the main reasons for Liverpool's early exit.
*I have now used that line in my last three articles, so you should take the hint(s) that things aren't going that well for them.
Some good points in there fish. You did forget to mention how Yossi was on the verge of quitting Liverpool this summer because he felt he wasn't getting enough regular football. Quite a turnaround if you ask me.
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