Liverpool sold Ryan Babel to Hoffenheim during the January transfer window as he was deemed surplus to requirements. Babel never really got going at Liverpool as he had some moments of brililance and then most of the team he seemed a pretty average player. When Liverpool signed Babel, many of us were excited about the young prospect which some dubbed the new Thierry Henry.
Babel was deployed as a winger for most of his time at Liverpool but he himself preferred playing as a central striker. In both positions he never really looked the part and that resulted in him being offloaded in January. But now Babel has revealed that Steven Gerrard believes the club will regret selling him.
“Liverpool have not made full use of my skills. It was the same under Rafa Benitez as it was with Roy Hodgson. I think Kenny Dalglish would have given me a fair chance. Steven Gerrard was a great inspiration. He often said that I should not give up. When I left Steven also said to me that he was convinced of my qualities and I still can be a big player. ‘Liverpool will regret your departure’, were his last words he said to me.”
Do you think that Liverpool will regret selling Babel? So far Babel has only scored one goal for his new club in 16 games. Doesn’t that go to show that we are not missing him too much?
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i don’t think we’ll miss him too much, but I do agree, Kenny would have got more out of him and his pace than Hodgson
True, Kenny Dalglish would have got more out of Babel, but he must have known that it wasn’t worth it! A mediocre player remains average at best no matter how fast he runs… without the ball most of the time.
We don’t and wont miss him, the odd times he got close to goal he fluffed his lines. He was only ever any good when the game was won, the opposition where throwing everything but the sink at us and he only had the keeper to beat aided by our own Pepi Reinas quick thinking and distribution. He was never cut out for the Premiership.
I cannot help but think that liverpool sold Babel got Suarez i know which 1 i would rather have.
As well Babel has not set the world on fire in Germany i say good riddance.
Rafa got the best out of Babel in his first season at Liverpool when he was just 20. He managed 10 goals in all competitions that season and was tipped for more success the next season. However, the arrival of Riera meant Babel was dropped to the bench. He started very few games in his second season as Riera made the left wing position his own. Rafa could not give him a chance up front as we played with one striker and Torres was on fire. Last season, Babel was sparingly used as Benayoun and Maxi was prefered to him. Rafa also preferred to use Ngog as a back up striker. This season, Babel was never really in Roy’s plans. He saw Ngog as a better option up front and played with no wingers. All in all, Babel was never really given a chance after his first season. He had the pace and the skill but Rafa and Roy didn’t know how to get the best out of him. Surely Kenny and Clarke would have gotten the best out of Babel as a left striker in a 4-3-3 formation and if he wasn’t sold we might just be seeing the best of him under Kenny now. However, Babel probably thought he wasn’t going to wait any longer and realised it was time to go to resurrect his career. Kenny was prepared to give him a chance and it was Babel’s decision whether or not to join Hoffenheim. Can’t blame him for that, he’s had enough of warming the bench for the past 2 seasons.
thanks for the commentary i was in a coma during all this, you didnt answer the question
he is up der among de worst players in a red shirt,junk,
He has found his level!
He can’t have been keeping up with results since he left! No forward stood a chance with Torres at the club and the way we played,unless of cause you were Ngog!
Mayb it’s just his first season in Germany. Next season could be good for him,you never can tell. And Maybe we shouldn’t expect too much from him at the moment cos he has spent a lot on the BENCH and a question worth asking is How Good are his Teammates? cos a striker’s performance to me tend to depend on d midfielders. You just Imagine Babel in Arsenal! I’ve always wished him the best anyway and I will always do.YNWA
Chamarak is with Arsenal; he hasn’t set the world alight. Francis Jeffers is another striker who failed at Arsenal despite showing so much promise.
Nice point there but it doesn’t seem to me that Babel will be as wasteful as Chamak. He’s got more speed than Chamak and his shot is realy hot. Finaly,I’m not sure if Chamak has played up to 16 games for Arsenal but I’m sure he has scored more than once and I saw him waste a clear chance the other day.
I think his confidence is shot , what with rafa and hodgson messing him around , the lad didn’t know if he was coming or going .
The best thing has happened to him , he left . I agree with a comment by Frozen , next season he will do well , I also think that he will come back to the prem in the next couple of years …… Maybe to haunt us ! Best of luck Ryan all the best in your new career . Under dalglish you would have done Realy well .
Wish him well, but he was average at best. He provided some quality moments but more disappointments. On balance best for all that he left. Hope he has success in the future. Once a Red always respected. YNWA
ngog should go he might as well he just stands with hands in his pockets,
ynwa
Babel actually played pretty well in first season at Liverpool, and was voted the young prospect of the year. It is just that Liverpool didn’t really use him that often. Despite being nominated this, it is stated that he never played 3 games in a row. Now Babel has the potential then only thing i regret about selling him was that we didn’t allow him to fully embrace as we have done with spearing and Lucas. We all did not see the sense in Lucas being played and now he is probably our player of the season. We wasn’t Bebel given the same chance?
he had too many chances to prove himself and he proved too often to be a liability.
scrap but good enough for hasselhoffenheim
what a waste of webspace and an article, why dig things like this up, move on, i forgot who he even signed for until now
what we only hear is his so-called potential, but what we can only see is the reality. the excuse of “he didn’t play enough” must be thrown out of the window. we cannot afford to play him out of blind faith and not get a minimal of 1 point from games. spearing is a good example, play well every time you have the chance. nobody should be guaranteed a starting place. otherwise we have nightmares of seeing joe cole, poulsen and konchesky starting in every game they are available. likewise, jack robinson is an obvious better option at leftback than wilson. thank god that KD & SC realised the problem with the wilson and joe pairing on the left.
Ryan Babel would be a real good asset if he were still with us. I honestly think he is a potentially excellent player. He has the skills, body size, speed and talent to make it in the EPL. His only problem? He never had the chance to show it. Yes, whenever he had a chance to play, it was mediocre. However, take into consideration the amount of games he’s had. Fairly miserable for someone with supreme talent. Liverpool will surely regret selling him. Reason being he’s capable of producing the creative spark. Imagine a 3 prone attack with babel and suarez supporting carroll. To me, it’s mouthwatering.
imagine in how much of a different class suarez and babel are, and isnt suarez younger? look at how suarez can control a ball, his movement, he can hit a free kick and a bloody great finisher, babel can do none of these, i have seen more good moments from suarex already than we seen from babel in his whole time at the club.
drivvel pure drivvel
His touch isn’t good enough to be able to play at a high level plus he has no tactical awareness what so ever
here here on the tactical awareness, 80% of a players talent relies on tactical awareness, mental strenght and game intelligence, players in the championship can hit a pass or finish just like a pl player its when they lack in those 3 areas is why they dont make the grade in the PL