I want to say something about Steven Gerrard and Ryan Babel

[thesilverfoxlfc]

That sounds sleazy

It does but you get the point

[Harv]

The kid got it all ahead of him. He has loads of talent, is quick as they get, and has a rocket shot on him.

He will score at least 12 goals this season, which is a superb return for a winger in his first season.

All we need is another Babel type winger on the right and we can play a 4-3-3 type formation.

[Joe Le Toff]

I said in another thread that i think Babel is going to be a top player and that itll be sooner rather than later.
He has everything in his locker to be a huge success in this league imo.

Next season i think we'll see a more polished version and we'll reap the benefits of that.

[Nick77]

Although he needs to practise his left foot crossing - two **** crosses.

That's cos he's not a winger, he's a striker. And even when Aurelio came on he was STILL playing left wing! I would absolutely LOVE to see Babel & Torres play up front together. Voronin, Kuyt & Crouch aren't good enough to wear the Liverpool shirt IMO...

[Nicey]

Firstly Babel. It's not news to anyone with eyes, but this lad is supremely talented. It was obvious to me from the start and while there's a touch of raw inexperience about him, the signs are extremely good. Pace goes without saying, strength, athleticism and the ability to score goals. He just has a spark about him and he makes things happen.

I'm delighted with the progress he's been making. Sure he's not the finished article, not by a long way. But along the learning road he's undertaking, there's a hell of a lot of quality and potential there. We've all seen potential before and sighed as it faded away into nothing, but Babel's different. He's actually producing quality AS he develops. With some young players, they huff and puff, but produce very little. And the excuses come along, that they're young and learning. Babel IS young and learning. But he's also producing end product.

An already important part of the squad, a high quality impact player who makes things happen. Super signing, must be used more frequently and some match time up front wouldnt go amiss either. These are the type of players we need to be recruiting more of. He doesnt wait to see what happens and reacts. He MAKES it happen. Very exciting player and already at a young age, he is (for me) someone who should be considered a first teamer, as opposed to a bit-part player.

Onto captain fantastic. Or vice-captain fantastic, as he was tonight.

You cant really educate many people about the qualities of Steven Gerrard, let alone Reds. He has it all, we know this. Strength, power, desire, drive, passion, touch, pace, shooting ability...you name it (and i probably barely named half of it).

One thing that impresses me so much about him though, and is something that is often forgotten or taken for granted with a footballer, is his intelligence.

Very little frustrates me more in football, than when you're watching a situation and it's obvious to you and everone in the ground, that only a certain type of thing will work in this situation. It might be a player trying to put his striker away, and only a dinked pass will achieve that. Any other type of ball will be blocked. It might be a situation by the corner, where it's tight and you can see that only a chipped cross will reach the box. The defender's blocking anything else.

In the case of Steven Gerrard tonight, it was a pair of examples.

The headed goal was one. Absolutely superb. Looked very simple, but how many times do you see players identify the specific thing that's needed, let alone execute it? Not often is the answer.

The side-foot pass into the net was even better. It's not the execution that impresses me so much (although it was very good), but it's the ability to recognise what's needed in that situation so quickly and then go on to execute it too.

Many players are blessed with the talent to have passed that into the net. But few would've had the intelligence and composure to recognise that option. And it's no fluke that Gerrard did, he's done things like that countless times before.

It's incredibly rare that you find a combination of all Gerrard's technical, physical and mental skills in one player and his game intelligence is as important as anything else he possesses.

Praising the skipper is something we do a lot and rightly so. But, for a player so highly praised and so often, he keeps producing more and more praise-worthy moments and he produced two tonight.

Not for the first time, Steven Gerrard, i salute you.

What a ****ing amazing player we have and how blessed and fortunate we are to have him.

Great post

I have to agree with all of that especially Stevie G's intelligence, its off the charts ... his footballing brain is 2nd to none ... Why oh why did Thierry go to Barca ... Imagine Torres Gerrard and Henry in the same team. Not to be negative the one thing I "think" Stevie G lacks is natural leadership qualities, he is a winner a born winner and that rubs off on his team mates, sometimes single handly raising everbodies game by example, but I have always said my gut tells me his not a natural leader of men, I could be and most likely am wrong ... not something I say very often

[Nicey]

Firstly Babel. It's not news to anyone with eyes, but this lad is supremely talented. It was obvious to me from the start and while there's a touch of raw inexperience about him, the signs are extremely good. Pace goes without saying, strength, athleticism and the ability to score goals. He just has a spark about him and he makes things happen.

I'm delighted with the progress he's been making. Sure he's not the finished article, not by a long way. But along the learning road he's undertaking, there's a hell of a lot of quality and potential there. We've all seen potential before and sighed as it faded away into nothing, but Babel's different. He's actually producing quality AS he develops. With some young players, they huff and puff, but produce very little. And the excuses come along, that they're young and learning. Babel IS young and learning. But he's also producing end product.

An already important part of the squad, a high quality impact player who makes things happen. Super signing, must be used more frequently and some match time up front wouldnt go amiss either. These are the type of players we need to be recruiting more of. He doesnt wait to see what happens and reacts. He MAKES it happen. Very exciting player and already at a young age, he is (for me) someone who should be considered a first teamer, as opposed to a bit-part player.

Onto captain fantastic. Or vice-captain fantastic, as he was tonight.

You cant really educate many people about the qualities of Steven Gerrard, let alone Reds. He has it all, we know this. Strength, power, desire, drive, passion, touch, pace, shooting ability...you name it (and i probably barely named half of it).

One thing that impresses me so much about him though, and is something that is often forgotten or taken for granted with a footballer, is his intelligence.

Very little frustrates me more in football, than when you're watching a situation and it's obvious to you and everone in the ground, that only a certain type of thing will work in this situation. It might be a player trying to put his striker away, and only a dinked pass will achieve that. Any other type of ball will be blocked. It might be a situation by the corner, where it's tight and you can see that only a chipped cross will reach the box. The defender's blocking anything else.

In the case of Steven Gerrard tonight, it was a pair of examples.

The headed goal was one. Absolutely superb. Looked very simple, but how many times do you see players identify the specific thing that's needed, let alone execute it? Not often is the answer.

The side-foot pass into the net was even better. It's not the execution that impresses me so much (although it was very good), but it's the ability to recognise what's needed in that situation so quickly and then go on to execute it too.

Many players are blessed with the talent to have passed that into the net. But few would've had the intelligence and composure to recognise that option. And it's no fluke that Gerrard did, he's done things like that countless times before.

It's incredibly rare that you find a combination of all Gerrard's technical, physical and mental skills in one player and his game intelligence is as important as anything else he possesses.

Praising the skipper is something we do a lot and rightly so. But, for a player so highly praised and so often, he keeps producing more and more praise-worthy moments and he produced two tonight.

Not for the first time, Steven Gerrard, i salute you.

What a ****ing amazing player we have and how blessed and fortunate we are to have him.

Apologies for my earlier comments this week, I was out of order and I am turning over a new leaf

[AFII]

Babel is playing the role Garcia used to play, as an impact player, not really out wide, he cuts in a lot, behind the striker.

[Nicey]

I think also .. Rafa is easing him in .... which is the right thing to do in my opinion .... his confidence is growing each game and you can see it. I think everybody is in agreement he has class, but earley he did look a little bambi on ice, with each game that goes by is is starting to look more and more like he could be as good as Stevie and El Ninio

[Fan65]

I think Pennant deserves some praise as well, he played very well and got plenty of good crosses in and yes I know it was only a Luton makeshift defence.

I know he takes alot of flack on here but give him some credit.

[Red_hot]

Id play him up front. The other 3 cabbages are useless. Crouch, yet again, done **** all when given a chance.

He's not a winger that's for sure.

[Reece]

I thought Babel played well last night, apart from his crossing. As others have said I'm not convinced he is a winger.
Really want to see him given a proper chance alongside El Nino.

[JohnDoe]

I think Gerrard showed yesterday in which area of the pitch he's effective at and that's the final third. We need him to get the ball on the final third, not the halfway line and then he'll cause damage.

[Reece]

I think Gerrard showed yesterday in which area of the pitch he's effective at and that's the final third. We need him to get the ball on the final third, not the halfway line and then he'll cause damage.

Could it also be argued that he plays a lot better alongside Alonso than Masher?..........

[JohnDoe]

Could it also be argued that he plays a lot better alongside Alonso than Masher?..........

That is correct. Alonso takes off the burden of playmaking off Gerrard and pushes him forward. Mascherano in the team means Gerrard needs to drop deep and "carry" us. I've said that about a thousand times now. Alonso is a better partner for Gerrard if we're playing 4-4-2 and he's in the middle.

[Reece]

That is correct. Alonso takes off the burden of playmaking off Gerrard and pushes him forward. Mascherano in the team means Gerrard needs to drop deep and "carry" us. I've said that about a thousand times now. Alonso is a better partner for Gerrard if we're playing 4-4-2 and he's in the middle.

Agreed