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/