Ryan Babel

[JPK]

We need a seasoned winger to add to the 1st 11, especially if Babel isn't going to hiit the ground running. One injury to Kewell, and Babel struggling - we're then in the same position as last season - lack of consistent creativity and width.

Exactly.We missed out on Alves bigtime last summer.He would create so much for Torres and is ****hot at set pieces.He is top class.Not just decent or ok

[Kopite_Colin]

That's why I believe we're still one wide, creative player short.

[JPK]

That's why I believe we're still one wide, creative player short.

Gerrard will play on the wing again.He should be in the middle and he should be bursting into the box.

[stevie_gerrard_8]

Huge talent but needs to find a position IMO.

[Maestro]

I think Kewell's fitness and form will play a big role in how impatient we get with Babel. If Kewell stays fit and is playing at a good level and contributing to good all round forward play, we can ease Babel in with little pressure on the lad. That, for me, would be the ideal scenario. It's a big "if" though...

[Kopite_Colin]

Gerrard will play on the wing again.He should be in the middle and he should be bursting into the box.

I agree with you - but that makes me SO angry. He's a CMer, and by FAR his best position in terms of drive, support and influence. He's at the peak of his powers - play him where he does the most damage - central midfield.

[Kopite_Colin]

I think Kewell's fitness and form will play a big role in how impatient we get with Babel. If Kewell stays fit and is playing at a good level and contributing to good all round forward play, we can ease Babel in with little pressure on the lad.
That, for me, would be the ideal scenario. It's a big "if" though...

I think you're spot on Maestro. But the thought of an injured, Kewell (again), a struggling Babel and Pennant as our creative options makes me shudder.

[The_weatherman]

To be honest he is clearly a talent. I suspect that the move in league and position will mean he will take a while to show his full ability. I think we will need some combination of Kewell, Riise and Aurelio (maybe Leto too) to do a job for us while he settles in.

He does seem to have all the attributes to be a success though.

That's actually what I thought too, you can see that he has ability and he seems to have a good mentality (Rafa is good spotter of those). You can see it with Torres as well, he has the ability and the mentality, when it's there one can usually spot it. It's just a question of time, although I think Rafa doesnt expect us to win the title this season , Pako surely doesnt.

[mickeydocs]

I agree with you - but that makes me SO angry. He's a CMer, and by FAR his best position in terms of drive, support and influence. He's at the peak of his powers - play him where he does the most damage - central midfield.

You know what, in my opinion Rafa knows alot more about football and footballers than you. He plays Gerrard where he can use him to maximum effect. Gerrard is many things, but most of all he is a great attacking player, so what better to do than to let him attack which is what Rafa does when he plays him on the right.

[Kopite_Colin]

I bloody well hope he does - he's supposed to be at the top of his profession.

But I know what my eyes tell me and hgave watched enough good players and sides over the years to know that you play your best players in their best positions, to get the best out of them. Yes, SG can "do a job" at RM, and that "job" is probably better than most in the current squad - but to date it hasn't been good enough for us to challenge consistently at the top level (i.e. league) and that isn't good enough for LFC (or Gerrard) in my opinion. The lad is coming to the peak of his career, he should play wehere he does the most attacking damage and defensive protection for the team - central MF.

[JPK]

I think Kewell's fitness and form will play a big role in how impatient we get with Babel. If Kewell stays fit and is playing at a good level and contributing to good all round forward play, we can ease Babel in with little pressure on the lad. That, for me, would be the ideal scenario. It's a big "if" though...

A massive "if" really.Kewell has never produced for us.I honestly think we are being genourous with him.You would swear he had banged in a good few goals in the two games and made assists and tore Cranie(championship standard) full back apart.We have started the league badly and slowly every year with Rafa and finished very good two years.Relying on Kewell and HOPING he reproduces his Leeds form is very worrying.I just hope it's not the same few that let us down and in a few months we are calling for top creative wingers again.

[dww]

Decent isnt good enough and Riise gets goals there but he's not a natural winger.Kewell on form?Never at this club has his form been good and Aurelio has played centre midfield too but he is a left back
My point is in tight games you need that bit of magic.Gerrard cant do it forever.I do like Aurelio and Riise is frustrating at times but he has been one of our better players over the years.When Rafa arrived Finnan was played RW and 3years on two left backs could possibly play LW for a good part of the season.It's just not good enough.

Kewell hasn't hit his top form for us in general but when played for extended periods he has given great balance and showed against Chelsea in the cup the other year that he is capable of magic.

I don't think that all our players have to be great we need to create a great attacking unit. I believe that Aurelio and Pennant can play roles in that. I also think that Pennant can improve to be a very good player for us (I'm not advocating Pennant and Aurelio in the same side there by the way, we will have to pick specific sets of 4 players depending on the opposition).

I still think that Babel is capable and even if not played in every match at least gives the option from the bench of someone capable of producing something to unlock a team.

I think that the idea will be to play Babel/Kewell in the LW position. The point is that Kewell will have to be rested and we may have to ease Babel in. He needs time and it may be better to have a functional player like Riise on the left to allow greater freedom to the three attacking players or to allow us to play Gerrard in the centre to make us more attacking there.

I really think you are jumping to judgement to early of our reshaped squad. Benayoun on the right against us in the FA cup final proved he is capable of the bit of magic you demand. Pennant had a very good CL final and with a bit of composure and Torres giving him an option inside will be a real asset to us next season. Torres is another player capable of magic.

I can understand your concern but I really think the current squad deserves a chance to prove itself. Too much upheaval is usually bad for a team and I think in every area we are better this year than we were last and given that a lot of our players underperformed last year I expect a sizable improvement this season.

[Red_Polo]

You know what, in my opinion Rafa knows alot more about football and footballers than you. He plays Gerrard where he can use him to maximum effect. Gerrard is many things, but most of all he is a great attacking player, so what better to do than to let him attack which is what Rafa does when he plays him on the right.

That doesn't mean Rafa is always right though does it? Playing from the right and drifting in is a totally different role for him to take on compared with for example playing in a two man centre mid alongside Mascherano. The two roles present the player with different situations and require different characteristics and approaches. IMO Gerrard is an excellent RM player and a world class central midfielder.

If you're building a team for the long term I think it's best to put your best players in their best positions, and there's no doubt in my mind Gerrard's influence on a game, number of assists and goals, is greater when he plays a box to box CM role alongside someone more defensive. That's not an arrogant claim to know more about football than Rafa, it's just an example of a person having their own opinion on something and it happening to differ from one manager.

As for Babel, I haven't seen a lot of him, but he appears to be gifted in most of the right departments - close control at pace, good short passing etc. I have nagging doubts about our new widemen but hopefully they can settle in and show their quality sooner rather than later. I think Maestro made a good point earlier in saying that if Kewell is playing well it will take some of the pressure off.

[Kopite_Colin]

Well said RP.

[Kaip]

If he gets picked for an away match then he better get used to being a " target " for the cloggers............watching him in the under 21 comp he reminds me of Robben,give him a wallop first off and he's out of the game