Benayoun or Pennant?

As much as Liverpool clearly don't have a concrete first team this season, with very few players guaranteed places (depending on fitness, obviously). However a first 11 must be picked and for those big games you generally want your best players out there, as they will be the ones most likely to cause the opposition problems. One position we've always had a little doubt over is right midfield. Gerrard was out there last season, Luis Garcia tried playing out wide when he was with us, and Pennant was bought to solve the issue. Pennants arrival, whilst helping the situation, hasn't cured it completely, as we still get inconsistent performances from Jermaine. Now Babel and Benayoun have also been brought in. Babel is apparantly more of a left-winger, as he likes to cut in and use his right foot. That woudl leave the competition mainly between Benayoun and Pennant. Which do you guys think deserves a place in the first 11 for thsoe big games?

Pennant has a great game every so often, and has been improving since this time last year. His crossing has got alot better, more consistent and the delivery is quicker and he can really whip them in. However I see him as a confidence player, and a number of times he just loses it and has a stinker of a performance - giving the ball away and not providing any threat down the right.

Benayoun deserved a chance to get into a better team than West Ham, and now he's here at Liverpool he seems to be taking the chance. He's a sly and crafty player, abit like Luis Garcia in some respects. He looks tricky on the right, but he's never going to bring the width to the team Pennant does. Yossi prefers to come inside and take people on, or (as we've seen twice, including pre season and vs Toulouse) run across the defenders line and dink balls through to the on-rushing strikers.

Both players bring different qualities to a side they are in, but which would you start in those big important games?

I dont see Benayoun as a winger like Pennant id love to see him in the centre the odd game or off the front man. I think hes an excerptional liittle footballer

Pennant deserves his chance i think hes done ok lately and offers genuine pace down the wing and would be hard done by to be left out tho he could chip in with more goals. By the way i was amazed to discover he made most appearances for the side last year

so basically what im saying is can soccer not become 15 a side?

I think...Pennant to start, but Benayoun should be on the bench every week.

Pennant has started well this season maybe he feels threated with the arrival of Benayoun,not really seen enough of Yossi to judge yet he looks good the other night but i could have looked good against Toulouse so maybe half way into the season we should have this debate when Yossi has some Premiership games for us under his belt.

To be honest with you, I think Pennant is for crossing and Benayoun is for slotting and cutting inside. This all depends on the opposition so I dont think you can be subjective and ask a hypothetical question like this and get a concrete answer, not from me anyway.
They are both quite different players in style but this is the kind of strength in depth that will make us a real threat this season. As for the answer to the big four I would probably play Pennant against the chaves and Spurs because his superior crossing has caused problems to both those teams in the past, and I would probably go with Benayoun for the scum and Arsenal games with his better slot passing, ability to cut inside and his busy nature around those defences would cause wankers like Rio "overrated pile of fly sh*t" Ferdinand to sh*t their pants.

All in all though its really up to Rafa as Im damn sure he has the right tactical plan against anyone team in the EPL and Europe. This is another reason about my argument that we will see Crouch more in the Champs League than anywhere else this season, as he unsettles defences in Europe especially at home.

Completely depends on the opposition for me. I don't feel you can judge it based on 'big games' as even top teams play completely differently from each other. For example you wouldn't approach a game against Utd the same way you would against Chelsea.

Both players have different attributes that would suit different opponents better. Pennant hugs the touchline a lot more & will get the crosses in, whereas Benayoun will cut inside a lot more often and going by past performances will probably have more goals in his game. If for example the opposition has a defence that's very good in the air you might decide that attacking from the wings with lots of crosses coming in isn't the best tactic and to attack through the middle mainly instead. In this instance Benayoun would probably be the best option. Another scenario is the opposition might have a right footed player at left back, in this case you might decide Pennant to be the best option as he will attack the defender on his weaker foot more often than not. I also feel Benayoun is a better tackler than Pennant, so if the opposition have a serious threat on their left wing Benayoun might be the better option to offer more protection to the fullback.

As I've already said I feel who we should play depends on the opposition, so I'll give you my choice against the four teams that are regarded to be closest to us, Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal & Spurs:

Utd - Pennant. Evra isn't the best defensively & Pennant could probably take advantage of that. Although their central defence is pretty good in the air, whip enough crosses in & Rio will make a balls up of one of them.

Chelsea - Pennant. Again Ashley Cole is better going forward than he is defensively, and aerial ability definitely isn't their centre backs strongest point.

Arsenal - Benayoun. Arsenal's central defence is very good at dealing with crosses, and with the threat of Van Persie, Rosicky or Hleb down that side Yossi would offer the right back a little extra protection.

Spurs - Pennant. This opinion might change if Gareth Bale improves the defensive side of his game, but at the moment it's a weakness that can be exposed. The only major threat they have on the left is if Lennon plays there, and being right footed he cuts inside a lot more often, meaning the right back shouldn't need as much protection.

We all agree that they're definitely different kinds of players. The general feeling is that its horses for courses...JP to stretch opposition to get in behind, Yossi to cut inside and add creativity against deep defending teams sitting back, what could possibly greet us on Saturday against the Rams... 

Bloody hell, if it was possible to type that many words in thirty seconds you'd swear I was ripping off pragmatic's opinion

i think jp should start because he whips the ball in first time and has more game intelligence than benayoun(what ive seen of him)especially against good opposition Good problem to have!

Bloody hell, if it was possible to type that many words in thirty seconds you'd swear I was ripping off pragmatic's opinion

 

You were you cheeky tw*t you just reworded it and you know it lmao rotfl. I bet the only way you passed exams at school was copying the essays off the internet, bloody plagerist you are Eddie.

I watched Benayoun in Toulouse match and i think he would play better attacking midfielder side behind strikers.
Pennant is a model winger and deserves first team!

I think that JP needs to have a run in the team before a final decision can be made. forwards need to know what sort of service they can rely on, whether that be crosses (JP) or balls slipped in to feet (Yossi) so as to decide on their runs and positioning in the box. In a perfect world we should accommodate both but as we know this is not a perfect world because if it were there would be no Man. U. or Chelski.

If we are talking about which one to play on the wing, Pennant every time. As seen in the Toulouse second leg, even though he is right footed Benayoun always seems to want to turn inside and narrows the pitch. Pennant hugs the touchline which draws the full-back out and creates space for the forwards. I also think he puts a better ball in when on the run, whereas Benayoun might be better from standing like with his corner on Tuesday night.

For playing in the middle it would be Benayoun. Against smaller teams in the cups it may be worth playing him in midfield, but in some European games I can see us playing him off a single striker. It means Gerrard won't have to do it anymore because he has never looked comfortable doing it and it better in centre mid.