"Poor attitude, lack of character, limited intelligence" was how Rafa summed up the Reds effort against Wigan.
It all came undone with a Hugo Rodallega strike as the February push has turned into the Ides of March.
Rafa's statement maybe true but it does not hold for the one player who always gives them a chance- Yossi Benayoun.
On intelligence alone, the Israeli would find himself in the World's top XI. Yet, he is almost always rationed in Benitez's team selection, relegated to footnotes. It's too bad his team mates can't keep up. He was taken off with 20 minutes to go by Alberto Aquilani and the attack faded into a series of long balls.
In a midfield comprising Maxi Rodriguez, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt, and even Steven Gerrard - Benayoun comes across as a giant. Yet he logs almost 1000 minutes less playing time than Lucas who can be charitably described as barely adequate. Captain Fantastic is in the shadows of last year's prodigious contribution and when comparing goals to minutes played, Benayoun comes out streets ahead.
It is time to move to a club where Benayoun's midfield vision can be fully exploited. He is in his third year of a four year contract when he signed on for Liverpool in July 2007. Time to get the pen out.
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