Either Play Babel Or Sell Him

Posted by

Scott Dudley

The current situation that Ryan Babel is in is very similar to Roman
Pavlyuchenko (man that’s hard to spell) at Tottenham with Harry Redknapp.
Both have big reputations and are generally regarded as good players, but
both have found themselves on the outer for the last 12 months or so. It has
been common to see both either on the bench or not even in the squad.

I notice that Pavlyuchenko came on late in the recent Tottenham match
against Wigan and scored 2 valuable goals to win the game for Spurs. Ryan
Babel actually started a game (mainly due to a good game mid week against
Unirea) against Man City on the weekend but unfortunately for him, he was
not able to make an impression like Pavlyuchenko did.

In my opinion I think the main reason Babel is so consistently poor is that
Benitez never gives him a run of games to get his touch. He either doesn’t
play or he gets a 10 minute cameo at the end in most cases. It is difficult
for any player to make an impact if he is only getting 10 minutes at most.

Some people will say that he got a chance last weekend at Eastlands, but
what he needs is a run of games in the starting eleven to get his touch and
rhythm. We really have practically no strikers when Torres is injured and it
baffles me why Rafa usually plays Ngog ahead of Babel. Ngog has done OK for
an inexperienced youngster, but I can’t help but think how much better a
player Babel is if he is given a chance and puts his head down and works
hard. When Torres is finally fit I would love to see him and Babel play up
front for the next few games. Imagine the pace of the duo, and I think
Torres’s class would rub off on Babel. Why not play 4-4-2 with them up
front?

There are also issues about Babel’s attitude and the fact that he opens his
mouth a fair but in public. If Rafa has had a gutful of this then why not
simply sell him off. For me it’s a no-brainer either play him or sell him.
Playing the guy on the bench on a regular basis is doing both him and club a
disservice.

This article has been taken from the new LFC blog at
http://liverpoolfc-news.com/

6 Comments

  1. O-kay… I get what you are trying to say but if you haven’t noticed, Rafa HAS been playing Babel for more than 10min for quite a few games before he started against City. And a lot of people complain that Rafa is too cautious and withholds young players until he finds the right time for them to go into a PL game but that definitely isn’t true for N’Gog. And now that N’Gog is being given his chance to gain experience, everyone just criticises him saying that he doesn’t have enough experience to lead Liverpool’s attack. Furthermore, it has been rather obvious that Babel does way better coming on as a sub as compared to him starting, so it is an apt solution to start N’Gog and sub Babel later in a match, as that way, N’Gog gets playing time to gain experience and Babel can come on with a pair of fresh legs to finish off the game.

  2. The problem is Riera is way more effective than him and can we really afford to let babel find his touch as you say. Riera gets in there and delivers.

  3. I completely agree, I think this has been the sentiment of a lot of reds fans for a while now.
    With Torres, Benayoun and Riera all now back from injury, the feeling is that Babel’s chance has passed.
    Liverpool are now only competing on two fronts and Rafa will be looking to field his favoured XI in every game.

    Unless we have fresh set of injuries, Babel’s chances of getting a run in the team appear slim.

    The problem lies in the tactics: playing 4-2-3-1 means that Liverpool are never going to have 4 top-notch strikers (regardless of financial problems) simply because it means disappointing 3 strikers on a regular basis.

    I think Babel and Ngog are too similar in physique – if Babel had more strength and better ball control, Rafa might well have used him up front to allow the midfield to come forward more.

    With the arrival of Jovanovic in the summer, the best Babel can hope for is playing second fiddle to Riera on the left-wing. Given his current discontentment, this appears to be highly unlikely.

  4. *Yawn

    A century old news emerges again….

    If Rafa assures Babel that he has Anfield future, then we should believe him .
    You can see Babel plays a lot now.
    Babel will get his chance eventually.
    The thing Babel needs now is self confidence, not media coverage(how often we see that too much media attention has ruined players career).

  5. There is no doubt that the boy has talent, however the problem is that he rarely shows it. He has been given the odd chance but what with his ‘twitter’ antics and general attitude we can hardly blame Rafa for not playing him, especially as he (Rafa) has other players that show better aptitude.

    That said he is constantly played out of position – he is a forward, but rarely gets the chance to play there – he is also right footed, yet is mainly deployed on the left.

    Personally, I think he offers something different to the team (in particular his pace), however until his attitude improves (and there has been recent signs of this) I can’t see Rafa’s position changing. And with the return of Yossi and Torres, I can’t see the Dutchman getting much more than a cameo role until the end of the season – it will be then and only then that his future will be decided, but I reckon it’s in his hands.

  6. Babel over Maxi every time for me. No player can find form without a run of games, look at Gerrard and Torres this season. It has been a stop start season for both of them and it reflects in their form. Anyone who thinks Babel will perform after one game knows little about football. He is the type of player that needs the trust of his manager in the same way Lucas Kuyt and Insua receive it. I say give him 5 games on the spin and then make a judgment.

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