21 Sept 2012

'He's still good enough!' - Benitez urges clubs to sign £5m LFC flop. Worth a punt?

Former Reds manager Rafa Benitez has urged Premier League sides consider signing former Liverpool attacker Harry Kewell, who is still looking for a club to join this season.

In an interview with Four Four Two, Benitez claimed that the Australian is still good enough to compete in the Premier League. He explained:

"He still has the level for a Premier League club.

"He's a player that is good in the air, can keep the ball, can beat players and can score goals.

"It's just a question of finding the right club for him".


During his time at Anfield, Benitez displayed incredible faith in Kewell, repeatedly giving him chances in the first team despite his continual injury problems. Most fans were surprised to see former Leeds player start the Champions League Final in 2005, but Benitez has no regrets about the decision. He said:

"As player I really liked him. He was someone that could make the difference, but was just unlucky with injuries especially in finals. His injuries were a pity as I believed he could have made a difference in a lot of games"

Kewell was recently linked with a move to Stoke City, and had a meeting with manager Tony Pulis in August after turning up at the club's training ground out of the blue. A spokesperson for the club said:

"Tony wasn't expecting to see Harry. Whether he had his wires crossed or not, we don't know. But the manager was happy to chat to him although rumours that he is joining us are untrue"

It's nice of Benitez to help out one of his old players but it looks increasingly unlikely that Kewell will feature in the Premier League again.

Jaimie Kanwar


30 comments:

  1. Out of all the free transfer options currently available, he's probably the pick of the bunch. He's played well and on a consistent basis since leaving Liverpool, albeit at a lower level. If we had him on a pay-as-you-play type of deal then he might be a nice option. He's experienced, has an eye for goal, plays out wide.

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  2. One thing is 100% certain. Harry Kewell is still better than Downing.

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  3. To be honest, Kewell would be better than Downing even if he played with his recurring injury. Go get him Brendan. We need someone with experience on the wings, and its not Downing.

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  4. Also I would like to add the Liverpool Documentary was splendid. Even though its against everything Shanks stood against, it does give us exposure and shows a different side to a mediocre team. Lets hope we can get something from the scum on Sunday. Justice 4 the 96

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  5. Kewell's problem was his injury proneness, never his quality as a player. Don't know how he did in the past years, but considering the Kewell of the past, Benitez is right.

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  6. oh come on......is that the way Liverpool are looking ahead?

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  7. that guy is finish is not good any more from kas

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  8. Kewell ,are you losing it ,everytime he was given a good challenge ,he limped off!

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  9. Kewell's time at Leeds should not be sullied by his media-microscoped Liverpool sojourn.

    At Leeds he was truly wonderful at times. A fantastic player.

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  10. I live in Australia and watch the A-League although the quality isn't very good. Theres only one team (Brisbane Roar) who play true football and went on a 50 match unbeaten run or something. Other than that, it's a poor league and when Kewell was playing he didn't exactly light it up. He still has some technical ability but all his pace is gone. Championship standard but not premiership.

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  11. One thing is for sure , he would be a damn sight better value
    for money than the useless Carragher .

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  12. I agree, but I don't think he quite has the stamina for mid-field and 90 minutes of attacking anymore. Might be good off the bench like Bellamy. He wasn't bad on defense in the A league from the games I saw. I'd at least bring him in and see if he could still fill a defensive role, like instead of Johnson.

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  13. i dont want to see downing any more , he is the most useless in our team

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  14. I agree with Rafa. I'm from Melbourne and i support the Melbourne Victory who Harry played for last season , and he was class. Injury free and super fit. Why not take a chance on him ? Has all the attributes and knows the club and league .

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  15. Just about any footballer in the English Premier League would be better than Downing with the exception of the technically-inept Jamie Hoofer Carragher.

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  16. downing is a lightweight dalglish hasnt a clue on buying decent players , like back in the days when he inherit bob's and joe fagans team , he bought carter for massive money played him half agame then returned him to millwall for less than a third of what he paid for him off millwall

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  17. agree , carragher has 2left feet should have gone after milan final 05 , gerrard should have gone befor alonso

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  18. You sir are an idiot, jamie carragher is right footed not left and both steven gerrard and jamie have been loyal servants to this club and worked their socks off and the fact that you would rather have kewell in the team rather than jamie and stevie just proves how much you know about football

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  19. Well I don't agree with rafa. I think bringing in a freeby is a sign of sheer desperatism and we would just end up with. Another wage bill to pay for a player that probably wouldn't even see much fame play anyway. You also forgot to mention his bad points like he gets injured alot. Also what about our youngsters ? If we would rather get older free has beens than giving our young players a chance then they will never get a chance .look St how sterling has surprised us already

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  20. Was not good enugh 5 years ago - Rafa alking rubbish

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  21. ABOUT AS MUCH USE AS STUART DOWNING - ENOUGH SAID

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  22. LOL. I find it fitting that Kewell turned up at Stoke.

    He must be thinking...."Bloody Hell if they can take on a walking cripple in Micheal Owen.......I@VE GOT HALF A CHANCE!!!"

    LOL Fair play to the cunning kid...

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  23. You do know that Rafa also wanted to buy him. Downing does his job of getting crosses into the box, it's not his fault if there is none of our players in the box to get on the end of those crosses

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  24. You need to face facts mate, Kewell is class and only injuries held him back, there is a reason Rafa kept him on the books for so long, even though he wasn't a Rafa signing

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  25. Not once did Rafa say LFC should sign him, all he said was he could still play in the Premier League. Read the article and not the title.

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  26. Come on people, not once did Rafa say LFC should sign Kewell, he says that he is still Premier League quality and for a club like Wigan, he would be good. This is Jaimie inferring that we should buy Kewell.

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  27. i want to see herry play here in brazil at flamengo team, here he would be compered with Zico

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  28. well, i think that Harry is wasting time to decise for which we will play, i hope to see him at premier league, although it's very dangeours for him because on premier league the game is very hard, than he could have more injuries

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  29. Kewell has been injury free last 4yrs and was one of Galatasarays best player....... he did well lasyt year back in Melbourne and wld be a good addition toi a mid-table club

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  30. Harry Kewell, is in extremely rhobust form. Talk of injury is basically old hat. The guy had played the past season in Australia 100% + plus international commitments.
    His injuries were sorted a long time ago. Remebering Kewell was just named Australia' greatest ever footballer and is likely still Australia's best player. The reason the Socceroos have been falling short recently is because he has not been in the squad because he is without a club since moving back to the UK due to illness of his mother inlaw.
    I have focused on his play in the past season. He is still the goods and totally underrated. he is much like Shane Warn, people love to hate him, but just can't help to admire his talent. Go for it

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