Posted on Monday, 6th September 2010 by Luke O'Reilly
It has become a trend in the sporting world for its stars to tweet about their careers and problems, to let their fans know how they are feeling and to elicit empathy. Sometimes emotions run so high that players have to turn to the written word as a way out of their “crisis”. Just ask Kevin Pietersen. Liverpool fans have become accustomed to your online updates, some tire of them and some are indifferent. I hadn’t paid much attention to any of them until i saw the post “I’m going nowhere! #LFC all the way… #ynwa” just as the transfer window was closing.
The failure to secure a striker to support or even challenge Fernando Torres for a starting place prompted more criticism among Liverpool fans. It seemed the “big summer” that Tom Hicks had spoken about had failed to materialise as a fourth consecutive transfer window passed where Liverpool had made more money than they had spent. A debt-ridden club with aspirations of a return to the top again looked ill-equipped for the fight ahead. Despite not being a target or a necessity to Liverpool, Tottenham’s capture of Rafael van de Vaart was a painful reminder of the pull of the Champions League and the absence of it at Anfield this year. Liverpool needed a “name” but got no-one. Disillusionment reigned but the news you were staying gave me a glimmer of hope.
I say a glimmer because I, like many other fans, feel the jury is still out on you. However, If i were pleading your case to those 12 individuals I would say that football was more important to you than tweeting and rapping. I would tell them that you have never played more than 6 consecutive games in your 3 years at Liverpool; scant time for a footballer to get into his rhythm. I would remind them of your strike in Lyon and your 11 goal debut season. I would argue you that you have only played in your favourite position a handful of times and that you looked a natural when you scored against Trabzonspor.
I imagine communication with Rafael Benitez wasn’t that great and his insistence on playing David Ngog ahead of you when Torres was injured must have been very frustrating. So what can be done now? You are staying. A new manager and a new start is what you have got. So, on the premise that Roy Hodgson gives you your chance to shine, are you ready to show us what you can do? Can you finally shed your “great potential” tag? Liverpool Football Club needs all the help it can get at the moment so your assistance is needed.
Thanks. Glad you’re going nowhere
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Tags: Fernando Torres, Kevin Pietersen, Liverpool, Rafael Benitez, Rafael van der Vaart, Ryan Babel, Tom Hicks
Posted in View from the Kop | Comments (50)
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Good article with a lot of good points, i think this could be a massive year for Ryan, and i fully agree that this guy has a demon inside him just itching to get out and cause havoc. i doubt he’ll read your open letter mind!
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Good article true!!! ryan is a fantastic player i’d personally always appreciate his sense of going forward, got us some great goals hold on ryan guess ur time is now!!!
Maybe fans should plead to roy to play him upfront?!!! kinda unrealistic though…
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
I thought Roy has said, he’ll be played upfront. Jovanovic will be on the left with likely back-up Aurelio (as this is where he was played in the away leg vs Trabzonspor)
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Ryan looks like lately he has been playing with more confidence and a smil on his face. I think this could be a good year for him in which he scores alot of goals!
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Pace, yes.
Passing, quite poor.
Shooting, eratic.
Finishing, inconsistent.
Need I go on ?
I would rather have Kris Boyd upfront than Ryan Babel at least he knows where the net is.
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Why has Roy joined Rafa in playing Ngog before Ryan? Any ideas? Perhaps right now Ngog is better!
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
fantastic player, great speed and shooting ability but it seems like roy doesn’t have much faith in him. playing ngog upfront instead of him shows roy doesn’t rate him much. but i do hope he gets a chance this season, preferably upfront instead of left wing. when and if torres gets injured, hopefully that doesn’t happen of course, i hope roy puts babel upfront.
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September 6th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Berno!
Now we know why you’re not Liverpool manager!!!
we’d be relegated in no time!
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September 6th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Great reading…
Ryan Babel you have great potential so now can you please stand up..??
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September 6th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Gr8 article …….
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September 6th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
we cant go on forever having potential, we used to say this of 16 year olds, this is the season or rather half season because if he does not perform in the next few months he should be packed off in january so that he does not run his contract down,lets hope he finally performs consistantly and gets offered a new contract.
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September 6th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
I have always thought babel playing on the left was a big mistake he has no left peg.
I beleive he should play right wing or up front.
With kuyt seemingly out for a few weeks this could be babels opertunity to finaly give liverpool what they need.(pase out wide)
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September 6th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Great article!!!! I feel people are un fair to Ryan. I believe that if rafa had shown half as much faith in babel as he had kuyt we wud be looking at a completely different player. You don’t come to the premiership with a reputation like his then suddenly turn to a bad player. Roy give him a chance please!!!!!!!
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September 6th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
He isn’t a striker in a million years. Why Rafa never gave him a decent run on the right wing beggars believe. He may well excel in that position.
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September 6th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
“you looked a natural when you scored against Trabzonspor.”
Very true. But he was awful at times for the rest of the match.
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September 6th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
awful at times for the rest of the half, Bob. He got subbed at half-time after scoring the only goal in his first pro appearance since last season remember…
It’s funny that Babel is an inferior player, but is held to a higher standard than Torres and expected to shine with EVERY touch of the ball with no excuses allowed
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September 6th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I disagree with you slightly Chris – the problem isn’t playing him on the left, it’s playing him so deep and far away from the goal!
It’s not just him though – Jovanovich and Kuyt would also benefit greatly from being deployed further up the field (433 or 4231) instead of playing in such a deep, flat 4 man midfield.
In a four man midfield though, out of our current squad, unless Johnson is going to be pushed up into midfield where he belongs, or Gerrard is going to be shifted out wide, then Babel is definitely our best option to be played out on the right
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September 6th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
seems to me that he is surplus to requirements.
Roy accepted at least 2 bids for him in the window..
true he has showed flashes of brilliance but we cant afford to wait for him to develop any longer..
he wont be at anfield next september..
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September 6th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
These ‘open letters’ always make me laugh; do you actually think (a) Babel would take the time to read this tripe, and (b) whether he’d actually care even for a glancing moment what you think.
I stopped reading at ‘the jury is still out’. How patronising. What qualifies you to act as juror? One tweet, and Babels a hero all of a sudden.
Quite pathetic to be honest. If you have something you’d like to say about Babel, just say it. Better still, if you DO want to write to Babel, try emailing him in private, I’m sure he’d really love what you have to say.
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September 6th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Come on Ryan.
There are a lot like me who have backed you all
the way. I think you could be the striker we have
all been waiting for, we Know you are a lot better than we have seen of you so far . so honour that red jersey you wear with many goal’s
we know you can do it,( good luck Ryan.)
ALFRED WYNNE.
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September 6th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Footy is 90% confidence in yourself and team,,,, if he gets the confidence he will be the new striker we all hoped to sign last week. He has the talent,,, he needs a good run and some luck,,,, with the small squad and league, euro and 2 domestic cups and need to rest Torres at this point,,,, plus Kuyt being out for a month or two we need him to step up and show us why he wears the red shirt and why he earns a fortune every week.
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September 6th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Dear Ryan,it’s now or never,we believe in you,we need you now,and it’s only up to you,to step up and be a World class player,or be lost.C’mon ryan you can do it!!!!
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September 6th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
kris boyd were havin no hun reject 1 hun is enough in danny wilson
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September 6th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Roy,it’s easy to see,played Ngog ahead of Babel cause he came late from the W.cup.
Ngog made all the pre season,is fitter,and played well also.Now i hope he’ll give to Babel a fair chance to play.
(Van Der Vart is a very good player,but in his position LFc don’t need him,we don’t need a name,we need a striker)Go Babel!!!!
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September 6th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
The Dutch team don’t pick Babel ahead of Kuyt, so why would we play him at right wing? With his failure to impose himself on a game, why would we picjk him at left wing, or striker either?
But sometimes, just sometimes, he comes off the bench and does something amazing and we all sigh about his potential again…
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September 6th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I reckon Babel is better than NGog and is just unlucky that his confidence has been ruined and form has dipped along with his reputation. I think Babel would do better given the same oppurtunity as Ngog has had. It would save wasting money on signing crap like bobby zamora and Carlton cole.
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September 7th, 2010 at 12:41 am
And Ryan has actually read it lol. Look at his tweets from 5 minutes ago if you don’t believe me.
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September 7th, 2010 at 1:01 am
Lol at jay1978. Ryan read the letter. Heck his twitter
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September 7th, 2010 at 1:35 am
yeah! Ryan you can shine, i really believe you have all it takes to become a great player. I hope to see you play upfront along side Torres.
i tell you what, that sounds great to me!
Ryan Babel RULES!
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September 7th, 2010 at 7:46 am
I appresiate it was only a testamonial but am I the only one who noticed the difference in the way babel played in Carra’s testomonial. The style more than anything. Instead of running with the ball, the ball was being put into space for him to use his pace to get beyond the defenders.
This seems a much better way to use his pace. Instead of driberling parsed an aponent put the ball past and use your pase.
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September 7th, 2010 at 8:06 am
I hope Babel has a great season.
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September 7th, 2010 at 8:54 am
bring it on babel! you can do this! yes you can! try and challenge torres in terms of goal scoring. impossible is nothing.if there’s a will,there’s a way!
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September 7th, 2010 at 9:16 am
@Jay1978 funny you should say that, ‘ause i found this letter through his tweeting, he obviously did read it.
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September 7th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Well babel, to me is a wonderful player but fell into the wrong manager, in person of Rafa.
And I want him to know that I love him as a player and person. Cuz he is committed, and devoted to the club. That he should try to live up to our expectations is so true but he should let our pressure to be much on him.
Before I drop my ‘pen’ I would like him to remember the arsenal game, where he came from the bench to win a penalty after stupid mascherano allowed walcott to storm past making adebayor to score.
Babel gave us the penalty and still scored.
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September 7th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Well babel, to me is a wonderful player but fell to the wrong manager, in person of Rafa.
And I want him to know that I love him as a player and person. Cuz he is committed, and devoted to the club. That he should try to live up to our expectations is so true but he should not let our pressure to be much on him.
Before I drop my ‘pen’ I would like him to remember the uefa arsenal game, where he came from the bench to win a penalty after stupid mascherano allowed walcott to storm past making adebayor to score.
Babel gave us the penalty and still scored.
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September 7th, 2010 at 9:51 am
If Roy makes the same mistakes as rafa, then he will go the same way, it is worrying that a player of babels upper ability is left to founder when the likes of ngog and Lucas with no where left to grow are used instead. Any Liverpool fan who believes Ryan has had a chance simply does not understand the game or simply does not get that it is much harder to be creative and change a game than the pass it back merchants we use all too much these days!!! Come on Roy stop messing about!!! I’d play him up front with torres and build the rest of the formation around Cole and gerrard, at worst 12 games on the bounce on wing with beat a man attitude instilled, ynwa
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September 7th, 2010 at 10:53 am
babel has read this!! its on his twitter page!!!!
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September 7th, 2010 at 11:08 am
I think Babel is one of the few talents that have not yet been fully exploited. In the eyes of every team, he has a huge potential. with all the speculations failing to mature, it shows he(Babel) has the Reds at heart and he just needs time especially that he is at one of the top clubs.
Go Babel, Keep it tight. YWNWA
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September 7th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Ryan Babel. The man, the mystery and the undoubted talent. To me he is easily the most underrated player ever to be underrated by Liverpool FC. However, if we ask ourselves and indeed if Ryan asks himself, we all know why. It’s because of poor consistency of touch, his passing could be much better and at times his decision making can be erratic. BUT, I watch Torres week in week out lose the ball high up the park, trip and fall over his laces and generally being a goon only for that moment when he turns in a lightening bolt and his boot connects sweet.. wondergoal. The difference is no-one cares if Torres performs likes this, why? GOALS. Ryan has goals in him, if I know nothing else I know this and supporters know this. Roy Hodge more than likely knows this, so come on, GIVE BABEL AN EXTENDED RUN!
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September 7th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Excelent artical as for Ryan he is a footballer that thrives on confidence and to me his confidence was shatered by rafa you were able to see that every time ryan played or came on as a sub and he was not alone in the confidence thing so far what i have seen of Ryan he is playing with confidence although not everything has come off on the field for him he does look to be enjoying playing for liverpool and i believe roy is the manager to bring the best out of Ryan as he did with a player who to be honest had become a bit of a joke bobby zamora and roy turned his game around and the lad has got into the england set up so come on Ryan produce the form that we all no your fully capable of and have a fantastic career at liverpool ywna Ryan you have our support its now up to you to produce the goods
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September 7th, 2010 at 11:25 am
We have the slowest wingers in the prem yet Roy the idiot Like Rafa the Blinkered Fool before him seems to think Kuyt and Janovic(In Rafa’s case Riera) are better.None of them can go past players and both of them are the main reason we don’t score enough goals.I hope Babel leaves and joins a club that can utilize his talents and proves to some of the so called “Most knowledgeable fans in the world” (Ha! That’s a f**king laugh)What a decent player he is.Marco Van Basten rated Babel highly and said that him moving to Liverpool would be a mistake and a step backwards.Think about this who’s opinion about Babel would you respect the most?A load of blinkered “Expert” fans or one of the greatest footballers we’ve seen who has watched Babel develop as a player before his move to our rotting club\team? Roy is Rafa the Negative MKII Babel will never get a chance under such an idiot like him.
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September 7th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
My jury is most definitely not out, I was there for the Trabzonspor game, and I has delighted that Roy had the guts to sub this waste of space right after he had scored a goal, because the lazy sod had done stuff all for 44 minutes.
You may say it’s a lack of confidence, but when you are getting paid that much money to do a job, you should bloody well be trying your very hardest to do that job, even if you are not playing well.
Babel has only ever shown me, that he thinks he deserves it to be handed to him on a plate, and I have never seen him play as if his life depended on it.
He needs to be off loaded in January, he has had far too many chances, he does not deserve any more.
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September 7th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
nobleox you any relation to yawn ? check up the starts Ryan has had since he came to us and how many times he actuly finished a game and how many times he has been a sub which is hard to come on and always make an impact you may be surprised fella and also watch when he is on the pitch and the subs board goes up his reaction he knows he is going to be subed you dont build your confidence up when that happens how ever much money he earns . you ever played football or are you one of these go to a match and your a football expert sounds like the latter to me
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September 7th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
Emmet Fox – that is my sentiment exactly. Babel is held to a ridiculous standard where any good is ignored with all focus going onto any failings that he may have in a game.
Even though he is one of the few players capable of opening up a game for us from open play, he is the only one that gets castigated for trying to beat a man, while the rest of the drones that play it safe (and still make mistakes with misplaced passes, poor ball control, failed dribbles, wrong decisions etc) all get a relative free pass. Torres is a proven world class striker but he messes up on the ball just as often as Babel does, without the repurcussions. Kuyt is a goal-poacher who offers nothing going forwards if he doesn’t score one of his rebounds, but he is constantly complimented for his defensive efforts with his attacking contributions overlooked. He’s an attacking player at a supposed top club ffs!!
Just like Utd with Ronaldo, Arsenal with Henry, Chelsea with Malouda, Spurs with Lennon etc – none of which set the world alight immediately, but all of which were given plenty of time on the pitch to come good – we should be sticking with Babel and encouraging him to keep on playing his game, whether he has some bad games or not, until he does deliver on a regular basis on the talent that he clearly has.
Either that or continue to stick with the limited but ‘hard-working’ players that currently clutter our team, and play such uninspiring football
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September 7th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Well, Babel should get chances this year due to our small squad size. Let’s hope he improves because there is nothing we would like to see more than Babel fulfilling his potential. His physical attributes are excellent. I think he needs to improve his decision making and perhaps work on ball control and then we will see him knocking in the goals.
With that said though, I have been impressed with Ngog this season and also hope he gets plenty of games. Against Trab (2nd leg) he pulled off a nice bit of dribbling in the box to leave a few defenders scratching their heads. Didn’t score then but showed good composure. I think he is coming of age and some time bulking up and I think he could be top quality.
Any other opinions on our Ngog?
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September 7th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Ngog is a better prospect than Babel is younger smarter and just as athletic not quite as quick and is more skilled than Ryan is .
I do not rate Babel and do not know why they have kept him so long, he definitely is not the next Thierry Henry and should have been sold.
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September 7th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
For all those who keep saying “He is not the next Thierry Henry”, I don’t necessarily disagree, but I would point out that when Arsene Wenger bought Henry, as a 23 yr old by the way, he only had about 20 goals in 150 matches. Babels got more top flight goals and apps under his belt. The facts they speak.. just listen.
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September 7th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Albey I think you’ll find I was sticking up for Babel so don’t compare me to the blinkered fool that is nobleox
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September 8th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Yawn i was having a go at you over what you implyed about liverpool fc and there supporters knowledge and about what you said about van basten he didnt even play Ryan that much when he f”"ked up holland as manager and the reason i compared you with nobelox was your both negative about our club and supporters and want lfc players to leave the club
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November 9th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Nobody cares Ryan!!!!!
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