Benayoun Ready To Put Eight Years Of Disappointment Behind Him
It has been eight years since Yossi Benayoun has won a trophy. He joined Liverpool thinking he was joining one of England’s biggest clubs and expected to win some much needed silverware. He was disappointed, yet again. Not only did Liverpool not manage to finish in the top three last season, they failed to win elsewhere – their biggest disappointment coming in Europe with their loss to Athletico Madrid in the Europa League semi final. He thus moved to the London club, Chelsea – League and FA Cup winners, in a £5.5million deal, and is hopeful that he will win something with the champions.
He might have his wish as soon as this Sunday, when Chelsea take on runners up Manchester United in the Community Shield. Before the game he recalled his time at the Israeli club, where he played under manager Avram Grant and won two league titles. But that was eight years ago and Benayoun is hungry for more trophies. “I won two league titles in Israel under Avram Grant at Maccabi Haifa. But the last one was in 2002 and since then I've won nothing. So the opportunity to get some medals was very important when I signed for Chelsea.”
He mentioned his spell at West Ham, where he wasn’t doing too bad and came close to winning the FA Cup in 2006 when West Ham took on Liverpool. But it just wasn’t meant to be, as Liverpool won, thanks to a goal in the last few minutes. “I was very close to winning the 2006 FA Cup final with West Ham but Stevie Gerrard took that one away from me in the last minute,” he said.
He admitted that it was one of the reasons why he joined Liverpool, he said that they seemed like a promising club and he was ensured he would be in the starting squad if he proved himself. Benayoun did exactly that, but a poor relationship with former manager, Rafa Benitez, made it impossible to stay. “That was why I went to Liverpool but we were unlucky during my three years there and didn't win anything. But I did more than enough at Anfield to prove that I deserve to be at this level and I am sure I can have success with Chelsea,” he told reporters.
He revealed his frustrations at Liverpool’s poor form, which he noticed from the very first game of the season. Instead of their performance improving, it went downhill – resulting in Liverpool finishing seventh. He did not however, bad mouth his former club like former Chelsea player Joe Cole. He said that it had been a great privilege playing for Liverpool, which is still considered a big club. “Things just went from bad to worse. It was a real shame because Liverpool are a big club and it was a privilege to play for them,” he said.
Even though Benayoun admitted to strained relations with former manager Benitez, which eventually led him to consider his future and the move to Chelsea, he did not use the issues that Liverpool were facing with the owners as a scapegoat for their bad result or his departure. He believed it was down to poor managing, lack of motivation and unrest in the Liverpool camp which resulted in a disappointing campaign.
Benayoun who has been given Joe Cole’s number 10 shirt, was asked how he compared himself to the former Blues star. However, he insisted he did not want to be compared to Cole, saying that they were two very different players. He said he hoped to make his own mark at Chelsea and not live under the shadow of the England midfielder. And as for the number 10 shirt, Benayoun confessed he preferred Malouda’s number 15 to the 10 that he had been presented with.
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