bigmick wrote:I wonder if Babels goal against Lyons caused anybody to revisit their assessment of his abilties, or whether it will just get accepted/dismissed as a flash in the pan?
It firstly has to be said that it was an absolutely fantastic goal, but does it prove anything? Does the scoring of it in the manner it came prove Babel really has something, or was it just luck? He had to gather it, run to his right at pace, get his foot around it and get tremendous power and accuracy into the shot, so could he do it again and what does it teach us about him?
For my part the goal shocked me to be honest, simply because I didn't think he was capable of such things. He scored a similarish goal against Chelsea a year or two back, but even that wasn't with the same purity of contact and brute power of this one. We knew he had pace to burn, we now know he can give it a good crack with his right foot and he can hit it on the run. Unfortunately we also know he lacks awareness and his first touch is iffy, but in all honesty is there anybody who thinks he doesn't offer potentially more threat to the opposition that either Voronin or N'gog? Put simply, who would you prefer to play against? I know who I'd be picking and Babel would be at the bottom of my list of favoured opponents out of those three.
If it is to be true that Torres must now sit games out, surely now is the time to give him a go, Babel time if you like. "Schtop" I hear you cry, but I ask you what is the alternative? My guess is that if Voronin and N'Gog play 500 games for Liverpool (and neither will obviously) they'll never score a goal like the one babel scored the other night. Options are thin on the ground for us, and he surely represents the best one for us if Torres is out.
He such an enigma isn't he? He has looked a bit brighter in his last 5-6 appearances as a sub and yet he was truly dreadful/invisible when given the full 90 against Arsenal the other night. Incredible goal against Lyon and I'm butted for him that it wasn't the winner because I think it would have lifted him no end. I know a lot of people would like to see him given a go up top and i'd like to see it myself, must admit I think his best position is on the right but he doesn't stand a chance of playing there with Kuyt a firm favourite. A few posters have advocated playing him up-front with Torres but if you think that is ever going to happen then you haven't been paying attention for the last 5 years. Rafa doesn not like playing with two out an out front men unless one of them is a target e.g Crouch and Fowler. He likes one up with another playing "between the lines" and he doesn't see Babel as a player who can offer this. I must admit i don't think Babel has the touch, guile or craft to bring much to this position but then neither does Voronin or Kuyt when they asked to play the role.
I hope the lad gets a start on Monday because if I had come on and scored a goal like that I'd bloody well expect to play the following week.
