Why Yossi Benayoun, NOT Mikel Arteta Is the Perfect Buy for Arsenal's Midfield

The transfer window has slammed shut for quite sometime now, and if any major club were frantically looking to end it on a high, it had to be Arsenal.

Especially after an unprecedented drubbing at Old Trafford and unceremonious departure of star players left Arsenal's near term shortcomings exposed. This left Arsene Wenger with no other options but to go for replacements even if though most of them looked more like stop-gap arrangements and an outcome of panic buying.

Arsene Wenger was one of the busiest managers on the transfer deadline day and announced the signing of as many as 3 players. Of them, one of the first was Per Mertesacker, a deal which was pretty much done and only the medicals tests and personal terms awaited agreement; next to follow him was Yossi Benayoun on loan from Chelsea and finally with barely minutes to spare, Mikel Arteta managed to squeeze his way into the North London club from Merseyside.

Apparently, most of the Arsenal fans were absolutely overjoyed at those deals, especially the last minute deal of Mikel Arteta and consider him to be a perfect match for their club. 
I beg to disagree with that, and hereby I have suggested four reasons why Arsenal's best midfield (considering Gervinho is primarily a forward and Alex Oxlade, a future option) enforcement this summer has been the loanee and NOT the £ 10m Spaniard.

Benayoun Has a Big Match Temperament

It is a fact not unknown to any Liverpool fan that Yossi Benayoun had one of the calmer minds in the team he played. A complete team man, Yossi always put his hand up when it came to deliver at crucial times for the club. Even though not a prolific goal scorer by any stretch of your imagination, Benayoun has displayed class and come to the party when need the most both at Liverpool and West Ham.

The most unforgettable highlight among them was the header at the Bernabeau against Real Madrid which effectively placed the galacticos on the back foot in the Champions League tie and the Spanish giants never quite recovered from that.

Arteta has not really been into big matches enough, however his temperament hasn't been the best at times. When not in possession of the ball the spaniard cuts a dejected figure on the pitch and has a record of picking up unnecessary yellow cards.

Arteta has picked up 19 yellow cards for Everton since 2006-07 as opposed to Benayoun's just 5 in the same duration. The Spaniard is also on a yellow card this season already and though that may be much, it still says that Benayoun has been a better head in mid-field, just as Wenger needs it now.  

Benayoun Has Just the Type of Experience Arsenal Needs

Wenger has been crafty this time in the window, he has almost purposefully gone for leaders after finding his squad in complete chaos in between games. His other buys Park Chu Young is also a national team captain, Per Mertesacker & Mikel Arteta too have been captains at their respective clubs.

Benayoun has also been a leader in many aspects, not only for the clubs he played for before Chelsea (where an unfortunate injury dashed any hopes of his first team action) but also for his National team, Israel

However, the reason Yossi edges over Mikel Arteta is the fact that the Spaniard has almost never performed in the pressure conditions which is demanded of him at Arsenal. Neither has the Spaniard played far into any European competitions for long nor has he ever featured at pressure cooker domestic club championship matches too like the FA Cup or Carling Cup finals. So to ask him to do that all of a sudden even admittedly in more privileged company of players could prove to be too much from him.

Some of the cynics may stretch their necks and say captaining Israel shouldn't be such a big deal after all. Well, that may be true, however if you have a look at the pedigree of both the players you have your answer.
Arteta played alongside Xabi Alonso  at Real Sociedad and then took the long journey to England, on loan with Everton. The Spanish team in 2005 was never quite as strong as it is now that Arteta could not have forced his way into the team with solid displays for his club. On the contrary whereas Alonso went to greater heights, Arteta never even got one cap for his national side. Even Albert Riera did better.
Some may say that was because he was at a club like Everton, but my point is that if Arteta was talented enough he could have easily made the grade at a better club, he didn't.

Yossi Benayoun whereas, took a much difficult route. He went from Maccabi Haifa to Racing Santander to West Ham (a much lower rated club than Everton) to Liverpool where he finally established himself.

He scored his first Premier League hat-trick for Liverpool in a 4–0 win against Burnley. It was his third Liverpool hat-trick after the ones against Besiktas in an 8–0 victory and against Havant & Waterlooville in a 5–2 win for Liverpool.

He remains the only player to score Premiership, Champions League and FA Cup hat tricks. 

A Better Record in Terms of Physical Fitness

In terms of recent injuries although both the players share a similar record, Yossi suffered a worser time last year having played only 209 minutes (less than 3 matches) as opposed to Arteta's 2405 minutes (over 32 matches), however, it can well be argued that even if fit Yossi may not have found as much playing time as the Spaniard with such a massive Chelsea squad. 

That apart, Benayoun has been a pretty consistent performer for Liverpool and West Ham before, and scored 21 goals in the premier league before last season where he scored a solitary goal. Arteta's record in the same duration, 22 goals.He scored 3 last season, and 1 this season. Although, one has to bear in mind that Yossi was never a regular penalty or free-kick taker like Arteta.

Now considering Arsenal is not short of goal scoring options, that should not be a problem.

Arteta however has a huge baggage of injuries with him.

Added with the fact that he will be 30 years old next March, Arteta has a record of injuries which goes on as follows;

2008 stomach injury
2009 cruciate knee ligament injury
2011 grade 2 hamstring tear injury
2011 foot injury

However, the fact that Everton had mostly to worry only about the Premier League meant that Arteta could be given good rest before being called up, but now with the added pressure of Champions League Football, which the player is desperate to play, things may just get ugly.

 

Benayoun Came for Free, Arteta Cost £10m!

As is evident, a smile on the face of Arsene Wenger is getting rarer by the day. However, the fact that both the deals cost just  the club £10m upfront, should please the parsimonious Frenchman.

However, the fact that Benayoun cost the club nothing makes it a better deal also on the financial aspect. Also, the Israeli cost Chelsea a meagre £ 5.5m and so even if Wenger chooses to buy him, it should be a cheaper deal as opposed to the deal which bought Arteta to the club. 

It is true that the Gunner fans are clearly not through the moon with such deals, however, given the present circumstances, I feel that the Benayoun deal sounds better if he is given a fair chance to shine.

However, because of the hype surrounding the evident charisma of the Spaniard, i think Yossi will have to make the most of the limited opportunities thrown in his way to earn a call to the starting line-up.