What has Yossi Benayoun done wrong?
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It seems as though Arsene Wenger has become obsessed with keeping faith in Andrey Arshavin and giving him a second chance so much that it has come at the expense of playing a hungrier, more efficient player.
When Yossi Benayoun was signed as part of the five-man transfer frenzy which followed the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford he was probably the least anticipated name on the list.
And perhaps rightly so.
Due to his injury-prone record at Chelsea and the fact that he was a rival’s ‘reject’, the Israel international arrived as a bit-part player.
Wenger himself has limited the 31-year-old’s role to a bench warmer, but Andrey Arshavin has been misfiring for months while Gervinho has needed a breather.
Benayoun is yet to make a Premier League start but on every occasion he has pulled on the Arsenal shirt since his loan move, he has shown not only flashes of his quality but traits of a true proffesional.
Even in the frustration of being deprived of playing time, the former West Ham midfielder has echoed Szczesny’s fan-like passion for the club, always revelling in every Arsenal win or goal and even stating that it is a “dream” to be at a club like Arsenal and that he would be over the moon should his loan spell be extended.
That is the opposite of his compatriot Andrey Arshavin whose football enthusiasm is scarce – threatening to quit the game after Russia’s World Cup qualifying failure and prior to his Arsenal move, declared he was Barcelona through and through (even posing with a Barca shirt).
Add to that the fact that Benayoun has bagged two goals in his cameos – including a terrific strike and performance at Olympiakos recently – and it is clear the former Liverpool favourite has enough quality to merit a starting spot if not to challenge Walcott and/or Gervinho for a place at least.
So upon all this, when Arsenal were in need of an energitic and commited attacking player to replace Walcott at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Wenger chose Andrey Arshavin whose sheer laziness makes even Berbatov and Adebayor look like hard-working butcher dogs.
And even after seeing his commitment wasted at the expense of the ‘ever-reliable’ Arshavin, Benayoun managed to post the following proffesional note on his twitter account.
“Very disappointing result today and also not to play at all but I’m sure better days will come soon,” tweeted Benayoun.
How is this fair?
First class post. i hope you’re listening Arsenal. As a club our biggest problem is that we are way too slow to change even when every sign points to needing it.
With two quality mature and experienced Premier League players in Rosicky and Ben Ay
oun there,s really no point in Arsene playing Arshavin and Walcott ,especially Theo who
is woeful and a waste on his wing ,so why doesn,t the coaching staff wake up and play
Yossi more often ?
U are right stonory the issue of changes as been pose a threat on mr wenger.
Thought the exact same when watching the match. Gervinho should have came off, and wallcott and Ramsey should have played the flanks. Poor decision there. Lack of full backs was key to defeat today. Once santos, Sanga, Wilshere and hopefully, hopefully, the addition of PODOLSKI will be a different story at the emirates 🙂
podolski and ronaldinho will be great.
ronaldinho is available for transfer and won’t cost much. he has champions league experience and can be our super sub. plus our young players will learn alot from him.
getting rid of arshavin and chamakh will be the best january transfer move.
because buying new players or not arsenal still have players that can do better.
ryo, chamberlain,afobe,park. arsene will keep them out of first to play his favourite donkeys. and worse, he doesn’t believe in rotation. walcott and ramsey are excused because they are still young but shouldn’t start every game.
Good post. Chamakh is pure sh*t, a journeyman pretender and Benayoun has twice as much talent in his big toe. Andrei has even more talent but has lost interest in Arsenal and hates Wenger because he won’t play him in his preferred position. It’s obvious but Wenger is only playing these two guys to keep the values up obviously before they go, which is unfair on Benayoun and the whole team.
If Chamakh is sh,,, then what is Gervinho who cannot get goals even when he,s played
into a goalscoring position,usually by Song, Arteta or van Persie,game after game ,so Ben
tdner is gone and more than likely won,t be returning from his loan spell,thanks to fans
like yourself who have no clue ,now who,ll get the goals for Arsenal when Gervinho and
Chamakh go to the Afcon in January ,not Walcott or Arshavin,so who then?
Arsene is falling back on his old ways. He is watching the game not managing the game and his resources. Arshavin is a disgrace and when Arsene keeps sending him in as a player I am reduced to screams of outrage at the television. In january if Arsene pulls the same old stunts he has pulled in previous years and DOESNT BUY THE REPLACEMENTS
we desparately need the team will slip into a downward spiral and all the positives from the last two months will be lost. I cant believe the man is so stubborn and so set in his ways that he refuses to recognize the obvious.. He is so late making decisions that should have been made much sooner.. Getting bad vibes about what is coming at us the next 6 weeks…
Exactly right Keith so Arsene shouldn,t be dejected if he cannot see the changes that need
to be made early in the game ,substitutions in the last five otr ten minutes of a match are
pointless unless it,s a bad injury that needs to be tended to right away ?
Firstly,I love Yossi and would like him contracted ASAP.
Having said that,I believe his greatest strength is his enthusiasm and workrate.
Today,we needed someone to give us a goal. Like it or not,Arshavin is a player who can do this. I believe today was his last chance,as he was woeful with every touch he had.
Wenger will sell him in January,as if he can’t rise to the occasion,an occasion that was made for him,then there is no hope.
I have always like Chamakh,and believe people who say he cant play are either stupid it forgetful…..he was very good early last season until RVP came back and he list his spot.
For both parties sake,id let him go also.
Yossi will get his chance…..its a long season.
I agree. Benayoun is a work horse. He should be playing much more. Arshavin schleps around like a side of meat.
But adebayor used to work hard for us. That was his finest quality that season he scored all those goals
Yossi has not played enough! He’s smart, skilled, and can change a game in a second. He can brake down defences as well. It is obvious that Van Persie is scoring most of Arsenal’s goals while players like Gerviniho are missing shots right in front of goal. I dare anyone to check Benayoun’s shots/goal ratio, it’s pretty good!! He has big game experiance and is extremely hungry at atm. Time to play Yossi!!
P.S. Most underrated player in the premiere league for a while.
The guyz play well but seriously We might not qualify for the CL if Wenger dont bring in new players in jan, We needed to score a goal and We could only bring on flops as subs. If AW dont buy in jan then I fear for AFC, the 1st XI is great but where is the bench?
I might be wrong to say this, but I think Ramsey has been badly mis-performing for us for the last three months and he needs to be kept on the bench in order for mid to be efficient. His indecisiveness has costed us goals. We now need benayoun, coquelin or fringpong to be in there. They have the desire to win, ramsey is just a comfortable man.
Very well said fella, ramsey has a good work rate but when it comes down to the role he is asked to play, the fella has no idea. Against villa mr weng shld mix things up wit RVP Benayon AOC Rosicky Frimgpong and song. Weng buy SOW please
totally agree – Wenger plz wake up to Yossi’s equally astute talent to turn a game and get a result, moreso than arshavin who’s just not fit or sharp enough at mo.
I like the way yossi loving arsnal is a great player, keep in arsnal two or more season
ashavin shld be offloaded in Jan. Benayoun far far better!! while two fullbacks be loaned in asap!!
Wenger’s faith in average players wil cost d team mor. i dn’t kno y he’s nt seein reasons wt constructive suggestns?his tactical changes yesterdy couldn’t ve earned us anythin dn we got. if u ve Benayoun&Rosicky on d bench wt dr quality in a game where u need creativity to those changes get u zero
Ehm, how are Yossi and Arshavin compatriots? Is ‘compatriot’ the new term for team mate?
There are two kinds of compatriots if you didn’t know. It could mean either a fellow citizen or a colleague (mate/teammate). I was referring to the latter.
Definition of COMPATRIOT (TheFreeDictionary)
1. A person from one’s own country.
2. A colleague.