Monday night not only delivered a well needed three points for Liverpool but also provided us with a glimpse of the potential we have on our hands, with Dutch attacker Ryan Babel putting in arguably his best performance in a Red shirt since his costly arrival in 2007. Most people already know or are aware of the talent Babel possesses and the potential he has to be an exciting player, however, disappointingly the Dutchman, who picked up a runner-up medal at the recent World Cup, has failed to deliver on a regular basis and therefore has seen himself in and out the first team quite frequently.
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With talk of the Reds gaffer Roy Hodgson putting a striker at the top of his list of transfer targets for the upcoming January transfer window, a run of top notch performances from Babel could not only give the pacy forward a lengthy run in the first team it could also save the club and NESV in particular a significant chunk of money. If Babel is able to produce the goods up top alongside Torres or, as seen against Aston Villa, David N’gog, the owners will not have to splash out over the winter months and can afford to wait until the summer in order to, alongside manager Roy Hodgson, build a squad capable of challenging for honours in time for the 2011/2012 campaign.
Many of Liverpool’s fans and followers have given up with Babel and a fair few of the Reds supporters have called for manager Hodgson to cash in on the Dutch international in order to bring in bigger and better names to the club. Nevertheless, it seems as though Hodgson has kept his faith in Babel and is willing to let the striker prove his worth. The equation, however, is simple for Mr Babel; now, with confidence on his side after a man of the match performance against Villa, it is time to show the fans his quality and battle for his future because he knows, aswell as everybody else, that this season could be his last if he continues the inconsistent form that has blighted his first 3 years at Anfield. The most helpful thing for Babel would be for the fans to be on his side, so he will be looking for support from the Kop as he looks to push on with his Liverpool career.
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I always thought Babel was an exciting player. It was just that both Rafa and Roy never really gave him a chance. This guy is quality, he’s strong, fast and can play out wide and up front and I think if Roy is willing to give him a run in the team we can finally see the best of him in a red shirt. He was exceptional against Villa and even the previous match in Bucharest he did a good job, held up the ball well and brought others into play as well as setting up Jova’s goal.
Now I think he can build from the confidence and really step up to the plate. Instead of dropping him to the bench again maybe Roy should start him alongside Torres in the coming games. With his two decent performances against Steaua and Villa, I really hope he can stake a claim for himself and force his way into Roy’s plans.
I agree that playing him alongside Torres is going to be the only way we will get the undoubted talent out of this man.Alas, I rather doubt RH will give him a long enough run out as he seems to favour Ngog. still it would be a good thing if Torres was rested now and then and this budding couple allowed to develop their interplay. I say interplay as I do think that if there was less “selfishness” shown in front of goal more results would come. There have been dozens of times when a pass to a colleague would have given a goal chance more impetus than a futile blast for self glory.
Before January transfer market there are 3 more games to be played. Give Babel chances for all 3 games to find out whether he will fit in or cash-in on him!
Roy kept his faith in the player? Really??
Hodgson tried to ship him out to all and sundry in the last window, publicly stated that the guy has no position (he can’t even play upfront in training games??), stuck him in the reserves and even with the team underperforming all season, waited until December to hand the guy his first start in the league!?
Do you guys manage to keep a straight face when you’re writing this stuff??
babel undoubtedly has loads of talent…he has pretty much everything a player needs- speed, strength n’ skills..
looking at him play, it always seems he’s lacking confidence..hope he’ll get some confidence frm his goal n’ take his chances..
plse try Johnson on the right wing and give Kelly the chance to prove his worth
give torres some purtanity leave and allow these two to flourish. One thing i noticed was ngog wasn’t passing to babel, i think he is worried if babel plays too well then he will lose his place.
To be fair ngog has improved alot and holds the ball up really well but has no pace.
Babel is a natural finisher and a hell of a striker who hasn’t been given any time in the team, drips and draps here and there. We seen torres playing really bad game after game but was never left out of the first 11 never mind the bench and same goes for gerrad, kuyt, lucas and the list goes on. Then why when it comes to babel, is he treated differently… give the guy a chance, give him some support and a pat on the back after all he is still an young kid…and just watch if he doesn’t get 20 plus goals per season i will stop watching football, he is a striker and not a winger but can cross and has a silky touch as he showed glimpses aganst villa.
you mean “Paternity”…
johnson on the right wing i have said that all along the guy can’t defend but can run with the ball, cross, shoot and has loads of pace and bring pacheco in to the squad…kelly at right back would be good too.
I’d virtually given up on Babel, but he seems to have put his foot on the accellaarator and has had two good showings (Steaua and Villa). I’d like to see him up top again just to see if the were flukes.
He seems to have turned a corner – perhaps Rev Run has had an effect 😉
Babel is a good player and always has been, he was just never given a chance to prove himself. I think he is a great squad player and never should of been thought about letting go, esp with the lack of depth in the squad at the start of this season, Roy must have rocks in his head to let Insua and Aquilani go on loan and think about letting bable go at the same time trying to sign COLE, this guy has to have a great look at himself, we need depth to even think about challenging for a top 4 spot.