Two in, two out

Yossi Benayoun followed Nigel Reo-Coker out the door, as Liverpool completed their £5 million purchase of the Israeli international captain. (The Telegraph, however, reported that the transfer fee was £4 million.) Those two midfielders have been replaced by West Ham's purchase of Scott Parker from Newcastle and Julien Faubert from Bordeaux in the French top flight.

Benayoun, as I've mentioned before, quickly became my favorite player last season, my first following the club (and football in general). I enjoyed his low-key, always-solid play, with the occasional bit of brilliance. I didn't get to see it till much later, but there was the back-heel pass to set up Bobby Zamora for the winner against Everton in April, for example. I watched one highlight tape of Faubert on YouTube. (I'm glad it's still there. I tried to look up Zamora's goal against Everton, using a link that a reader had left in the comments back then, but when I put in that URL, the page said that "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by FA Premier League." Unfortunate, but not surprising, I guess.) He seems to have great speed and a delicate touch and also seems pretty good at setting up teammates on crosses. I'll watch him with an open mind, even though I'll miss Benayoun.