LIVERPOOL - As Peter Crouch faced the press on Saturday afternoon after scoring on his first league start for over two months in Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Arsenal, one man slunk almost unnoticed out of the Emirates Stadium and onto the bus waiting outside.
Crouch may feel like a forgotten man on Anfield, but even the England forward might spare a thought for Yossi Benayoun.
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After a promising start to his Liverpool career, Benayoun, short of sinking without a trace, has become little more than a footnote in Rafael Benitez's plans.
The Liverpool manager will deny this, and Benayoun will continue to cling wishfully to the belief that he has an important role to play in the club's season, if not necessarily its future, as good professionals always do, but the statistics paint a very different picture.
Since the turn of the year, the Israeli midfielder has started just seven of Liverpool's 21 matches - none of them particularly high-profile games - and completed the full 90 minutes in only one of those appearances.
His 10 other appearances in 2008 have all come from the substitutes' bench, during which time he has spent only 241 minutes on the pitch, meaning about 24 minutes per game.
Another substitute's appearance is probably the best he can hope for in the second leg of Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal at Anfield this evening.
Such statistics would not appear so alarming were it not for the fact that Benayoun plays under Benitez, the grandmaster of rotation.
Vote of confidnece, kiss of death
If there is anything more ominous than a vote of confidence from Benitez - the Liverpool manager simply loves offering his out-of-favor players his full support, only to wield the axe when the opportunity arises - it is failure to get much of a look-in under a man who, traditionally, likes to utilize every member of his squad.
Benitez persevered for his first three seasons with a 4-4-2 system, or a variation of it, that would better suit Benayoun, but as this campaign has progressed, that has mushroomed into the 4-2-3-1 formation favored by Manchester United.
While hard-working, Benayoun's qualities are harder to pigeon-hole, and in a formation that demands absolute discipline, Benitez is obviously more comfortable using Kuyt.
Nonetheless, Benayoun appears happy to bide his time. "I knew when I came to Liverpool I would have to be patient," he said.
"I knew that I would not play in every game, but I am happy with how things have gone.
"I have played in games where maybe people didn't expect me to. It is good just to play anywhere at a club like Liverpool. No matter where I play, I will always try to do my best."
If these sound like the remarks of a man who is simply happy to be at Liverpool, it is because he is.
Sure, squad players who know their place are an absolute necessity, even in championship winning teams, but things are only likely to get harder for Benayoun, especially if Liverpool's ownership struggle does not take another turn for the worse and Benitez is given the funds with which to sign another few 20-million-pound players in the Torres mold this summer.
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