Has Rafa brought another jack of all trades to Anfield or could this be another big mistake?

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Some might argue that one of the biggest problems to have hamstrung Liverpool's progress is that no one really knows where they fit in to the team.

You have just left a crisis club in the summer to come and join the Champions of England. Joined a side that will be fighting for honours season in, season out. A club that has won the Premier League three times in six seasons. You want to make a good impression to everyone at the club especially as your manager has spoken good things about you compared to an old hero who has left the club.

As per the new regulations all the clubs have now announced their 25 player squads along with a long list of U-21 players who've been registered so that they are eligible to play in the Premier League just in case. You can see complete details of the squad lists and junior players of all the 20 clubs on the official site.

As one player appears to be heading for the Anfield exit another seems set to continue his Liverpool tenure.

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Liverpool winger Ryan Babel is reportedly close to an Anfield exit, with Sunderland ready to renew their interest.

Yossi Benayoun has had another go at former manager Rafa Benitez
Benayoun says the training at Chelsea is different to at Liverpool – in that they use a ball.
Benayoun has started training with his new club following his £6million summer move from Anfield.Chelsea coach Ray (BUTCH?) Wilkins said: "Yossi is doing well.

With news today confirmed that Joe Cole has signed a 4 year deal with Liverpool
after Chelsea had brought in Yossi Benayoun has his "supposed" replacement I have to ask the question..

Who got the better deal?

KTBFFH

With news today confirmed that Joe Cole has signed a 4 year deal with Liverpool
after Chelsea had brought in Yossi Benayoun has his "supposed" replacement I have to ask the question..

Who got the better deal?

KTBFFH

Overall Outlook - It's been a pretty quiet off-season for the Champions with some fringe players with bigger names than games (JCole, Ballack, Deco, etc.) moving on and some less high-profile names (Ramires and Benayoun) coming in. The veteran team also got a year older which has to be of some concern but certainly not to the point where you expect any of their big names to have a significant

Within 10 minutes the gulf in class between the two sides was clearly established. The first thought in my head was, how did a Chelsea side consisting of players like Anelka, Terry, Benayoun, Zhirkov, Ramirez, and Ferreira lose against Newcastle at home? The answer seems to be that their kids were not very good and they didn't play with the right mentality.

Who needs Yossi Benayoun to provide us with all of our Israel related wonder-strike highlights? Hapoel Tel Aviv's Eran Zahavi scored what certainly has to be the best goal of the Champions League so far in 2010 (apologies to Gareth ... Continue reading →

Wasn't it sad to watch Rafa's press conference at Melwood today?
Nervously reading from a scrap of paper, he apologised to the fans because of this disastrous season.
He mentioned "facts" again, like he did last year when Liverpool were then top of the League and looking good for the Title.

Beleaguered Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has admitted he may not make signings during the transfer window.
The Reds have lost Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun to injury, and are seventh in the Premier League and out of all major cups.
But Benitez said: "We will see if we can do something more in this window.

Reina
Johnson Carragher Kyrgiakos Agger
Kuyt Lucas Mascherano Benayoun
Gerrard
Ngog
Goals:
Forlan 9'
Underwhelming in both tactics and performance, an embarrassing defensive collapse allowing a mediocre Atletico a solitary early strike, and Liverpool still should have finished level, but saw Benayoun's 19th minute "goal" wrongly ruled out.

Atletico Madrid ended Liverpool's hopes of Europa League glory with an away goals success after extra-time at Anfield.
Diego Forlan, the goalscorer of Atletico's first-leg lead, came back to haunt the Reds in and will now face Fulham in the Hamburg final.
Liverpool, who saw the tie enter an additional 30 minutes after Alberto Aquilani's 44th minute strike, thought they were on their way to an all-English showpiece against the Cottagers when Yossi Benayoun grabbed a 95th minute lead.

Yossi Benayoun is probably heading out of Liverpool.
The Blues have put in a £6 million bid for the Israeli attcker and it is expected that the deal will go through.
Benayoun said: "Ancelotti wants me for next season and now everything depends on Liverpool. Chelsea will have to pay some £6 million but I believe that in the end I'll be moving there.

I always wondered how Yossi Benayoun could take playing for Rafa, saving Liverpool many a times with his fine displays of football and still find himself on the bench. Well, the Israeli midfielder unloaded on his former boss and it does not make a pretty sight.

At first glance, the signing of Joe Cole by Liverpool might seem like madness. Cole will be twenty-nine years old later on this year and has had a wretched time of it with injuries over the last year or so. He remains a player whose best position remains something of a mystery after ten years of professional football.

Liverpool v Chelsea is a fairly new rivalry; and is behind the likes of Man Utd and Everton in the pecking order, but the desire to outdo each other is still as strong. Denise from The Chelsea Blog has answered a few questions about the upcoming season, Yossi Benayoun and which player she'd love to [.

This is the fourth season preview I've done since starting this blog. Every year's felt like an evolution, not a revolution – even last year – and they've been fairly cut and dry with the previous season's results in mind. Not this year. I've absolutely no clue what to expect, which makes this analysis lark a little bit trickier.

Two days until kick-off, so let's throw some more names out there for you as you prepare for your mini-league and NCNB Fantasy League domination. We already looked at strikers, so here's a quick and dirty look at midfielders. Expensive: Lampard ... Continue reading →

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Chels$ki V/s The Beautiful GameIf there ever was an opportunity this season for the Gunners to show that they were genuine title contenders, this is the time.

If there ever was a day when the Gunners would have to assemble to prove that they had the potential to defeat the leaders, this is the day.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has rejected an approach from Greek outfit Olympiakos for Yossi Benayoun, according to a report from The Daily Mail.
The Greek giants apparently offered the Reds £5 million for the Israeli winger, who would have reportedly been paid £40,000 a week after tax had he moved.

Olympiacos will return to Liverpool with a bid for Spanish midfielder Albert Riera after their £5 million approach for Yossi Benayoun was rejected by the Anfield outfit, according to a report from The Daily Mail.
The Spaniard has not managed this season to reproduce the fine form of his debut campaign on Merseyside, and Reds boss Rafa Benitez could be tempted to part with the left-sided midfielder.

No trophies this year for Gerrard but at least a double gameweek
Some very important news today for those of you getting ready to set your Fantasy Premier League lineups this coming weekend...
We have been handed the new news that the Arsenal - Bolton and Liverpool - Tottenham matches that were snowed out a week ago will be played next week - thus handing all four of those teams a brand new double gameweek.

It seemed like last week that Liverpool were very keen to see their Premier League game called off with Spurs. Now when this happened I really did think that Liverpool were doing it not because of the weather, but because it gave them a few more days to build some confidence and it allowed Mascherano to serve his ban in the FA Cup and not in the league.

3pm. Delayed in the US at 4:45pm on Setanta.
If the Carling Cup semi goes long, the delayed showing won't start on time. If I can find a reasonable stream, I'll have a review up soon after the match like usual. And if not, it'll be up after the delayed showing.
Last 4 head-to-head:
1-2 Spurs (a) 08.

I won't argue that Liverpool FC deserve something more out of the last two matches based on form. Reading were the better team in both cup ties and Stoke were just about on par with the flailing Merseyside giants last weekend. And with Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun still out for today's fixture, one feels like the struggle to put a much-needed win away is less likely than ever.

Pardon me for my prolonged absence. The Loss against Reading effectively killed me. And Losing Torres, Gerrard, Benayoun was too much to take. I had to find solace in the deep cavernous bottomless pits of the earth strewn around with a large pile of anti-depressants. Seriously, watching Requiem for a Dream must be fun when compared to this.

Liverpool have been affected by some injurys lately on key players and Wolves also have a couple of key players out since some time back now. But both team seem to be coping pretty well with their situation and it should be a very interesting game at the Molineux. Torres and Benayoun will not play for [.

Big Tom has Tottenham fans dreaming of the Champions League
Tottenham sit in 4th place - in a Champions League spot - with only 15 games to go in the season, but I just don't see them making Europe's greatest club competition...
Something about their poor performances when facing the top sides just rubs me the wrong way.

Yossi Benayoun is set to quit Liverpool after becoming disillusioned with life at Anfield.
The Israeli international had a £7million move to Dynamo Moscow blocked in midweek.
But he will seek a summer transfer unless there are changes at the club before the end of the season.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez believes Ryan Babel can shine at Anfield now the transfer window is closed.
Babel's future at Liverpool was the subject of intense speculation during the January transfer window with Birmingham having a couple of bids rejected for the Dutchman.
Benitez believes Babel's form was affected by the speculation and he now feels the former Ajax man can show his true ability for the rest of the campaign.

Saturday

Bolton v Fulham, 15:00

On paper this one isn't likely to rock your world, but think of the new signings: For Bolton Jack Wilshire and Vladimir (two of the most exciting prospects in English football) and Stefano Okaka for Fulham.

Charlie says: 2-1 to Bolton

Burnley v West Ham, 15:00

Burnley are without a win in the Premier League since October, and new manager Brian Laws has suffered 4 straight defeats.

Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Kuyt, Lucas, Mascherano, Maxi, Gerrard, Babel. Subs: Cavalieri, Torres, Benayoun, Aquilani, Riera, Aurelio, Kelly.

Liverpool FC came from behind to beat FC Unirea Urziceni 3-1 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate to book a place in the UEFA Europa League round of 16.
Though Rafael Benítez's charges did ultimately ensure the natural order, they did so the hard way. The first-leg advantage handed to them by David Ngog's late strike at Anfield was quickly wiped out by Bruno Fernandes, but Javier Mascherano's first goal of the season restored parity in Romania.

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.

Ladies and Gents, Following the big success that was Chelseanazionale (I'm talking about the post, not the Oh so wonderful result that was Chelsea getting eliminated) we figured we might as well give BBC a run for their money with a Live Feed in what we like to call BigFourZa's inimitable style. What we're going to do here today is put a Scouse and a Red Devil in the same space and watch as the fireworks fly.

Tonights Liverpool team to lineup against West Ham United at Anfield: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Kyrgiakos, Agger, Benayoun, Lucas, Gerrard, Maxi, Aquilani, Kuyt. Subs: Follow the Liverpool VS West Ham match LIVE using our BRAND NEW, Live Match Centre.

10am ET, live in the US on espn2 (HD!)
Last 4 head-to-head:
1-3 Fulham (a) 10.31.09
1-0 Liverpool (a) 04.04.09
0-0 (h) 11.22.08
2-0 Liverpool (a) 04.19.08
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 4-1 Benfica (h); 1-1 Brum (a); 1-2 Benfica (a)
Fulham: 1-0 Wolfsburg (a); 2-1 Wigan (h); 2-1 Wolfsburg (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Torres 18; Kuyt 9; Gerrard 7; Benayoun 5; Ngog 4; Babel, Johnson 3; Aquilani, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel 1
Fulham: Zamora 8; Dempsey, Duff 6; Murphy 5; Gera, Nevland 2; Elm, Greening, Hangeland, Konchesky, Okaka 1
Referee: Andre Marriner
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Mascherano
Maxi Gerrard Aquilani Babel
Torres
Had you told me this would be a match-up of the last two English teams in European competition, I'd have laughed right in your face.

I was such a big fan of the 4-2-3-1 with Gerrard as a second striker/in a free role because it seemed to get the best of out Gerrard and Torres. That and it led to Liverpool nearly winning the league. But after how this season's gone, we rightfully have to wonder if that's consistently possible without Alonso.