Chelsea FC: Yossi Benayoun and His Future with the Club

When new Chelsea manager Andre Villa-Boas came into the club, he immediately declared that there would be no "radical" changes made within the club house. Speculation surrounding multimillion dollar signings and the sale of some of Chelsea's biggest stars, has done nothing to persuade the Portuguese boss' statement.

While the Equipment manager might not be too busy this year, pressing new names on to jersey's, the laundry room may see some unfamiliar ones as the make up of the regular starters could seem a great deal different than last season.

Villa-Boas implementation of his 4-3-3 formation will see one more forward and one less midfielder on the field than last seasons set up. Of those midfielders, one of them will command primarily a a holding role, sitting right in front of the defense. This was the position that Michael Essien was expected to play.

However, after his ACL injury last week, the spot remains open and Yossi Benayoun seems to finally have his opportunity to become an everyday player at Stamford Bridge.

Yossi Benayoun came to Chelsea in the July of 2010 for £5.5m from Liverpool. His time at Anfield was successful. Though not a starter in his first two seasons, he was often the first off the bench and made 47 appearances total. He would work himself into the starting lineup by his late season in 2009.

He often played a winger role for the Reds. His quick darting runs, sure feet with the ball, and accurate passing, gave the team a flank attack that opened up space in the middle for Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

He also has his own knack for finding the net. 38 goals for Premier League teams in all competitions in 239 appearances is a respectable sum given his primarily supporting role. He also remains the only player ever to score Premiership, Champions League and FA Cup hat tricks.

In September of the Israeli's debut campaign with Chelsea, he ruptured his Achilles sidelining him for a majority of the season. Had he not he been injured, he probably would have found himself in a similar back up role, behind Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda. But he would have been a valuable asset that could have been the extra spark needed to get a few more points throughout the season.

With Lampard and Malouda still firmly in place, as well as rumors surrounding the arrival of Luka Modric, Benayoun could find himself even lower on the pecking order for the attacking midfield role. However, this has not discouraged him from adapting to what the team really needs.

Essien's injury has push Jon Obi Mikel to the starting and only true holding midfielder on the squad. He is good in this position, but can be faulty at times as well as not providing nearly the level of offensive support that Essien had.

Villa-Boas seems to realize this and is trying to convert Benayoun into an holding midfielder that would provide an alternate choice to Mikel's defensive play.

There is little reason to doubt that he could fit this role.

One of the reasons Essien is such a versatile player is because of his play for Ghana. There he needed to be their best defender as well as there top playmaker for the team to have success. It is a similar position Benayoun is in for Israel.

He is by far the most capped and biggest goal threat on the team. But also must be the organizer of young midfield that has barely half as many caps as him combined. This means that depending how a game is progressing, he can be high up the pitch joining the attack, or sitting back in the midfield distributing the ball and protecting the back line.

Benayoun has featured in Chelsea's first two preseason games.

The first against Wycombe he played in his more familiar role high up in the attack. He would connect with Drogba and score a very impressive juggling goal.

In the second game against Portsmouth Vill-Boas would try him in the the middle and with success. The coach would commented on his play:

"Today you saw we adapted Yossi Benayoun's position in the middle, and also against Wycombe he was marvelous in that position." Villa-Boas said.

He would go on to discuss the lack of depth at the position:

"But that's one of the positions that we are looking to strengthen. But I reinforce that today you saw Yossi adapting to his position in the middle, so it's just a question of finding a solution. If it happens, it happens.

"But we don't want to build a squad that is too high in numbers. We have to respect the number of competitions we have and the toughness of those competitions but the balance will always be with 24 players in the squad."

Comments like this bode well for a player that has always been a reliable and welcomed sight for any team. Though he may not be playing as much as he would like, he is also not one to complain and demand a transfer. He seems that he is perfectly content to adapt his game to whatever the team needs.

Villa-Boas telling the media that he will not completely change the complexion of the team is not some kind of attempt to get veterans to follow his every demand before he can get the players he really wants. It is a logical dissertation he has made by simply looking at his roster and realizing that all the pieces needed to win are already in West London.

With Benayoun healthy he can be expected to figure prominently in the Portuguese bosses future plans, whatever position that may be. And the Israeli will gladly accept the role and play well in it.