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Yesterday, Yossi Benayoun was booed repeatedly by Chelsea fans when he was brought on for Eden Hazard. Today, he responded to it on twitter:
Disappointing result yesterday,always great to go back to Liverpool..really great full for the warm reception from the fans as always.
— Yossi Benayoun (@YossiBenayoun15) April 22, 2013
The booing yesterday came from some Small part of the Chelsea fans that doing it in the last few weeks since I did an interview about Torres
— Yossi Benayoun (@YossiBenayoun15) April 22, 2013
But I don't really bothered about it..people need to understand what they read
— Yossi Benayoun (@YossiBenayoun15) April 22, 2013
There is some other issues that the club is taking care and try to handle them in the right way..as sometimes people are crossing the limit
— Yossi Benayoun (@YossiBenayoun15) April 22, 2013
And I'm sure the club will sort it,what's important for me is to do the best for the team till the end of the season
— Yossi Benayoun (@YossiBenayoun15) April 22, 2013
And try to finish at the top 3 and win the Europa league..and then look for my next challenge for next season.
— Yossi Benayoun (@YossiBenayoun15) April 22, 2013
Look...Yossi Benayoun is not a very good player anymore. At 32, that's to be expected and not really his fault. Chelsea should never have bought Yossi Benayoun in the first place. Again, not his fault. Rafa putting Yossi on in place of Eden Hazard was ludicrous. Is it Benayoun's fault that Benitez is a terrible manager? No.
Yossi Benayoun has no business playing for the Chelsea first team in any sort of meaningful game. That said, he seems like a decent guy that's just trying to play out the last few months of his contract before moving on with his career. Don't boo Yossi Benayoun every time he touches the ball because Frank Arnesen and Carlo Ancelotti were dumb enough to buy him, that's on Frank and Carlo. Don't boo Yossi every time he touches the ball because Rafa Benitez is a terrible manager that insists on playing him, that's on Rafa and the board that decided to hire him.
I have no issues with booing a player when he does something poorly on the pitch. I have no issues with booing a player every time he touches the ball because he acts like Rio Ferdinand off of it. I have no issues with booing a manager for selecting an awful lineup or making a terrible change. That said, I have serious issues with booing a player (who is seemingly a pretty good guy in general) every time he touches the ball because a terrible manager decided to put him in the game.
If you're at the stadium, leave Yossi alone when he's playing and let him try to help the team. Let Rafa know during the change how stupid a decision it is, and then move on. Comment all over the internet about how terrible a decision it was to play him, but don't abuse the guy at the game or on twitter because of it. Yossi Benayoun is a good guy that isn't good at his job anymore. Let Rafa know it's a dumb decision, and then move on.