Liverpool FC Forum

by **The Manhattan Project** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:59 am

Manhattan never stops laughing at what Babel did to those poor Derby defenders.

Made them look like fools in front of 45K people.

:laugh:

by **66-1112520797** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:02 am

Those who say he reminds them of the ex-Arsenal player can see something which has so far eluded me I must say.

I know what people mean with the Henry comparisons, firstly he's direct which is similar to that of Henry, he also has pace too. But his whole body shape when on the ball and going past a player is almost identical at times. It looks as though he's almost modelled himself on Henry, the shift and pace, and the footwork to go along with it is very Henry-esk.

by **Rafa D** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:04 am

We don't need another..

"he's the next.....(insert famous player here)"

He's Ryan- fucking Babel.

by **66-1112520797** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:24 am

Rafa-Dodd wrote:We don't need another..

"he's the next.....(insert famous player here)"

He's Ryan- fucking Babel.

I'm only making comparisons, I'm hardly doing a Houllier Dodd.

by **Rafa D** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:27 am

I know mate

Funny the way you called me Dodd

Tickled me that.

by **bigmick** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:39 am

peewee wrote:
bigmick wrote:and think it's probably a little premature

is that the same as "I know its early, but......"

trying to change the words hoping we don't notice

Yeah you got me mate. Funnily enough, I really think in the case of Babel it is too early. Any serious assessment at this stage would be little more than a guess (well certainly from me anyway) as his contributions to a game of football veer form the sublime to the ridiculous and back again all in the space of around ten minutes. Stating the obvious but if he can regulary produce moments of magic like the goal on Saturday then comparisons with Henri wouldn't be quite so out of left field.

To come back on Bamaga's point, I guess I can see the similarities in their dynamics of movement but they still seem quite different to me. Henri was not just fast, he was just about the quickest thing on a football pitch I've ever seen (I know they said Cisse was quicker, and he was fecking quick but he didn't have the gears of Henri for me) and once he developed was a big man as well. He was much happier than Babel appears to be to strength it out with defenders, and was strangely attracted to the left wing despite being very right footed. I suppose particularly on the last point there are similarities, although Henri was also excellent in the air on the occasions he could be bothered to contest a cross. I suppose if you looked at Henri when he very first signed for Arsenal then fair enough I'd have the similarities. Maybe it's the countless times we have been promised the "new Zidane" and the like that makes me, rather like Dodd

think of him as just Ryan Babel.

by **112-1077774096** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:40 am

i think we can see babel can do it, we just have to wait for the consistency now

by **Ciggy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:49 am

Ajax are worst off since he left they would probably still be in the CL if he hadnt have left, him and Huntelaar where two of Ajax's best players.
They are missing him alot so he obviously done something usefull for them the last few seasons.

Even though Ajax is a big club in Europe he is at the biggest club in the world now, the transition will take a while, look at Pennant he played in the prem all of his career and up until a few months back I thought he would have been on his way.
The only thing thats missing from Pennants game is goals and I think this season he will start chipping a few in.
Like Rafa said I dont just want two players scoring then defenders know who to mark.

The only players that havent scored this season out of our first team are Finnan, Carra and Reina.

We have many possibilites now and something thats going to give every team we play against a headache :cool:

by **bigmick** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:50 am

peewee wrote:i think we can see babel can do it, we just have to wait for the consistency now

Yeah fair point and as long as we (Rafa that is) give him a fair go then we'll see if he's got it. I actually think we overpaid for him based on his current level of performance, but clearly there is the hope he will get a lot better than he currently is. Given what he's shown, he represents something of a gamble but it's one I'm comfortable with the club taking. Players such as Messi and Ronaldo weren't 25 million pound players when they signed, they were gambles.

It's a lot harder to predict it with a creative playwer than it is a defender or a midfielder in my view. When you want a bloke to produce magic, it's hard to coach it and sometimes you can't see if the bloke will be able to do it. It's not like teaching a defender not to get wrong side, or a full-back when to tuck in or a midfield player how to fill the gaps. You're asking a player to express himself, to strike that balance between trying things but not to the detriment of the team plan. It's hard, Garcia had the magic but sometimes didn't get the balance right. My hunch is that if Babel develops into being a good wide midfielder it'll be kind of a waste of his talent, a little like Diouf. To become the player he is probably capable of being, he is going to have to be encouraged to unlock the magic. My thoughts are it will take time, at least a season and a half and there is always the chance that he won't ever find the key.

by **Ciggy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:53 am

Oh and BTW he was the player that Pako didnt want us to sign said he was a panic buy, well if he keeps scoring goals like the one on saturday I wouldnt mind a team of panic buys.

by **burjennio** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:55 am

Alot of varying opinions so far but I would have to be in the "not convinced yet" bracket. The lad has shown some touches of class so far but if anyone caught the game on Sat, before he scored an admittedly class goal he was by far our worst player, repeatedly giving the ball away and running into cul-de-sacs and tbh I was shocked when Rafa took off Pennant (who was our best player at the time) instead of him

by **redtrader74** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:56 am

Babel has done a few good things and has also gone missing, and that article is far too pro Babel. 3-4 games played, far too early for me to put him at Van Persies' (IMO top drawer) or Robbens level. IMO his best quality seems to be that he can play anywhere in the forward areas, making it difficult for oppo teams to set up for us, and he appears to have a fantastic shot.
Once he settles down and shows consistency, then we will know whether he is more Henry or Cisse.

by **burjennio** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:59 am

redtrader74 Posted on Sep. 05 2007,09:56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Babel has done a few good things and has also gone missing, and that article is far too pro Babel. 3-4 games played, far too early for me to put him at Van Persies' (IMO top drawer) or Robbens level. IMO his best quality seems to be that he can play anywhere in the forward areas, making it difficult for oppo teams to set up for us, and he appears to have a fantastic shot.
Once he settles down and shows consistency, then we will know whether he is more Henry or Cisse.

Or, gulp, Diouf :sniffle

by **bigmick** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 10:01 am

redtrader74 wrote:far too early for me to put him at Van Persies' (IMO top drawer) level.

I must confess I've read a couple of posters on here talking as if Van Persie is in some way a poor player and it absolutely baffles me. I think he's a superb player, and if we had him up front with Torres we'd be nigh on certainties to win the league in my book. I don't think they paid that much for him either (£3mill

) and he is only going to get better. For me Van Persie is much more similar to Van Basten than Babel is to Henri anyway.

by **Elchris** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 10:08 am

Ciggy wrote:Ajax are worst off since he left they would probably still be in the CL if he hadnt have left, him and Huntelaar where two of Ajax's best players.
They are missing him alot so he obviously done something usefull for them the last few seasons.

Even though Ajax is a big club in Europe he is at the biggest club in the world now, the transition will take a while, look at Pennant he played in the prem all of his career and up until a few months back I thought he would have been on his way.
The only thing thats missing from Pennants game is goals and I think this season he will start chipping a few in.
Like Rafa said I dont just want two players scoring then defenders know who to mark.

The only players that havent scored this season out of our first team are Finnan, Carra and Reina.

We have many possibilites now and something thats going to give every team we play against a headache

Wesley Sneijder was massive for them , without him this season they are going to suffer.

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