Liverpool FC Forum

[stmichael]

Babel is more the sprinter, ears back and make it happen. He can play a bit too though, and I think he is definately worth a shot up top as I think he offers more than Kuyt, although having said that etc etc.

so your saying think djibril cisse but with control and footballing ability?

cisse was lightning quick but was so one dimensional it was untrue. this kid is direct but is two footed and has a great balance about him which is henry like at times. having said that though you can still see that the kid is raw and is being used in the right way by the manager at the moment.

agree about torres aswell. when you watch him play live he's deceptively quick. he seems to eat up the ground in an effortless manner. yesterday there was one long ball where he gave campbell (who's not slow by the way) a three yard start and beat him to it. he then also had the skill to win us a corner out of it.

the two of them for me look a frightening prospect for the future.

[Bad Bob]

I think there's a decent chance we'll see Babel up top against Derby on Wednesday.  It's just the kind of game to give a young prospect like him another boost in confidence whilst keeping a limited team pinned back.  Either that or Rafa will rest Harry and give Babel a start wide left.  In either case, I expect he'll get himself on the scoresheet somehow.

[Foximus]

Babel is the new john barnes, and will be in 2 years time.

he has pace, is sharp, doesn't play with fear, and is 5 times better than Harry Kewell, who is ,IMO a "one trick pony".

left wing or just off the front two, would suit him best.

a star in the making. x

Give me a break....

Kewell (present) vs Babel (present)....Kewell will eat up babel.

Babel is at best a very raw and unpolished diamond (VERY RAW is the keyword)...In a few years he might be better than kewell but at moment, kewell is a he11 lot better than babel.

I still stand by the opinion that when babel starts matches (esp at the left wing)...he does a "sissoko" (loses the ball, breaks up whatever momentum our team had till then...etc).

On the other hand, when he comes on in the 2nd half when the opposition players are tiring, he does well.

Maybe rafa can help out babel by not playing him on the wing...and starting him upfront.

I agree with everything this post stands for..Babel is extremely raw.  His ball retention IMO is poor and his passing leaves alot to be desired.  Dont get me wrong im a big Babel fan he just needs time and should play on the weekend against Derby Upfront..

[Toffeehater]

With Crouchie out 3 games, I would think Babel will get his chance to partner with Torres in a strong side coming up

Don't bet on it.....it will be Kuyt all the way... 

Rafa's one stubborn son of a gun.....

kuyt has not done too badly , he has worked hard as usual and partially because of that , we won against portsmouth . On the plus side , i think we will see babel up front against derby partnering voro upfront with riise on th left flank

[stmichael]

was disappointing today and again it was quite clear to see that he's not entirely comfortable playing out wide. his crossing ability is not of the required standard to play there as he kept hitting the first man.

will be interesting to see if he starts against man city.

[The_Rock]

If rafa had common sense he would play torres and babel up-front......

No more monkeying with babel on the left flank.... lets get this straight...babel ain't no henry. I know marco van basten (though one of my fav players)...but that doesn't mean he is right.

So rafa...just stick him upfront or...bring him on as a sub. If u start with him on the flanks, he is going to disappoint big time.

[stmichael]

If rafa had common sense he would play torres and babel up-front......

No more monkeying with babel on the left flank.... lets get this straight...babel ain't no henry. I know marco van basten (though one of my fav players)...but that doesn't mean he is right.

So rafa...just stick him upfront or...bring him on as a sub. If u start with him on the flanks, he is going to disappoint big time.

in all fairness the henry comparisons come from the fact that at the same age as babel is now, henry was a striker who was being deployed as a winger at juventus. i'm not saying that babel has anywhere near henry's ability, but if he' becomes half as good as henry was we'll have one hell of a player on our hands.

long term he's certainly a striker and he'd be perfect playing wide in a front three where he can drift when necessary but more often exploit that gap between a fullback and centrehalf. this is the position that he played for holland in the under 21 championships last year when he impressed so much.

[HacksawJimDuggin]

Babel and Torres up front would be frightening!

I agree that Babel needs to play more as a striker but he has also been relatively effective as a winger. Benayoun has settled and looks like he'll be a regular at RM and with HK back that kind of solves the LM position (if he stays fit). I do believe we'll sign another winger in the Jan transfer window though.

[Sabre]

I normally ask to the players according to what we've paid for them.

For me Crouch has been a very cheap signing for instance, and accordingly I don't ask him 35 goals a season, I expect more from Torres, among other things because he's expensive. And being a goal away of top scorer is an excellent job of the Spaniard. We pay a lot of money for that.

Babel is quite an expensive player. 11M pounds is a lot of money. I do this introduction because I like the player, I think he can be quality, but FFS, how can a 11M player and a young one be as blindly right footed as Babel?

I think that he must starting to use the other leg aswell!! otherwise in a top league like the english ones in which players know each other well he'll become very predictable and his pace and quality won't be as useful. I'm not slagging the player, I like him a lot, but he has to improve on this, he only uses the leg foot for leaning, and I'd expect beter from a 11M player. He's young to correct this things.

Just a nitpick opinion about his game, other than that, I think he'll be important for this team, even more next season.

[stmichael]

not even on the bench the other day. couldn't understand that at all.

[Dundalk]

There is a lot of thingd Rafa does we dont understand...

[JamCar05]

not even on the bench the other day. couldn't understand that at all.

That one had me baffled as well, and I commented on it in the game thread as soon as I saw the starting line up (before the game began). He almost always seems to make an impact coming of the bench, so I would at the very least had expected him to be there. Not saying he would have won it for us had he been there, but I do think he would have been far more of a threat than either Crouch or Kuyt.

[jedwards]

Ryan Babel is a very good player, and just remember that A. Wenger was desperate to bring him to Arsenal this season, but he failed to get him!. All my friends who support Arsenal, M.united, Chelsea, M.City, were saying that Babel went to the wrong team and under the wrong manager, who will eventually destroy him!!., This player should be playing week in week out in LFC first team, and should one of the main starter in the team, whether on either wings and along with Torres, and Crouch, as for the other two donkeys Kuyt and Voronin, to be dropped to the team reserves.
Just have a look at M. Sissoko, a player who had some good potential to become a top class midfield player. Look at him now under Benitez for three seasons, he is a shadow of how he was when he joined LFC, did not develop at all, his performances is in a study decline!!! Give this player to A.Wenger, or Ferguson, they will make a very top class player worth £10-15 Millions.

Our LFC problem is Benitez, he is a very negative manager, makes to many mistakes, but arrogant to accept his mistakes, or acknowledge it. BAD MANAGER

[stmichael]

Just have a look at M. Sissoko, a player who had some good potential to become a top class midfield player. Look at him now under Benitez for three seasons, he is a shadow of how he was when he joined LFC, did not develop at all, his performances is in a study decline!!! Give this player to A.Wenger, or Ferguson, they will make a very top class player worth £10-15 Millions.

sissoko wouldn't get anywhere near their squads, let alone their first teams.

a player such as lassana diarra (who has 9 french caps) can't even get in arsenals squad half the time and he's far better than sissoko.

[JoeTerp]

I think Momo's lack of improvement has a lot to do with his lack of skill not sure how much he will ever improve anywhere.  Babel is raw, talented, pacey, with a powerful shot, but is predictable and trips over himself and can be frustrating at times. I think he should always be in the bench, but do not think its his right to be in the first XI quite yet.