Babel to Come Good?

[memzey]

I agree that Babel is not the **** player many make him out to be.

I posted previously Click here that I don't think he deserves the bad press he sometimes gets. I think what frustrates at times is his potential to do more, that can often detract from what he is actually contributing.

Having said all of that, I was hopeful of a breakthrough season from him last time round and ended up disapointed. Looking back the injury he sufferred in preseason and then going to the Olympics probably compromised him from the outset and set him back a bit. He still improved as the season went on, but did not have the breakthrough year I was hoping for. The key thing out of all of that is how has this shaped Rafa's opinion of him. If Rafa still believes he's worthy of a chance, then there's hope for him. If not, he's screwed.

If he has a clear run in preseason now and starts the season fully it and integrated with the team, he could really be an asset to us over the course of the season, hopefully in an advanced attacking role supporting or covering for Nando. I like the lad and hope he does well. Also have that sick feeling that if we let him go, he'll go on to be amaizing for someone else and we'll be feeling gutted by that - like Juve were with Henry.

[-V-]

He clearly has potential, perhaps with enough game time he can do it. I really wish Rafa would partner him up top with Torres for a couple of games

[flyboy]

the guys bad enough that no decent offers were probably received.hes gonna end up as usual subbing for riera....and if we do get either silva or young,hes screwed.just dont see him improving with potentially not starting many games .

[Cormack74]

Thought his effort was good against Rapid if not his end product. I'm hoping for better things but not holding my breath.

[BigChief]

I like Babel and hope he does turn into a brill player for us. But the comparisons with Henry are desperate, myopic and incomparable. Henry was a young misguided winger who turned into a brilliant striker. Babel came in as a striker, tried to play both up front and on the wings and hasn’t managed to do either that well. People argue that he hasn’t been given a run in his favoured position, I believe he’s had two years and just enough opportunities. He frustrates me because he can be so good if a) he looked up, b) used his (good) left foot more often and c) displayed more game intelligence.

Even this preseason, though his fitness is impressive, the same traits are showing. Either no one is teaching him to change/improve (which I can’t believe) or he’s just unable to take it in.

I’m afraid the only valid comparison we should be using is Baros. Promising so much, delivering so little. I hope to be proven completely wrong.

[kubrickscube]

Roughly translated as;
"it looks like we can't afford a top class wide player like Silva so I'm left to boost the self esteem of the wide players I have. We are really impressed with him this year because he came back after the summer really fit, as opposed to being knackered after 10 minutes, and rather than being the lazy arse he was last season, he's actually trying to do his best and not sulk. It is very positive when you have a player with talent, and to be fair, he looked ace on his Ajax youtube compilation" Benitez said.

"I'm clinging on the faint hope that he's a slow starter, as the first two years is always difficult in another country, unless you're actually really good like Fernando, but I think if you have the right mentality like he has now, he will improve. No one wanted to take Babel off my hands so i'm crossing my fingers that he'll come good. However his Dutch rap I'm afraid is still ****."

[red g]

what could have been......

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tXNuMYrG7U"]YouTube - Ryan Babel Compilatie[/ame]

[Guest]

He's got his head down too much, he needs to improve on that.

[el matador]

last season was a write off for him because he got injured during the summer, and then went off to the olympics unfit.

No doubt playing whilst not 100% didnt do him any favours and it took him until jan / feb to fit his fitness back. By then rafa had pretty much settled on his first choice team and he wasnt in it.

But give him a chance, ive already been impressed with him in the couple of games that ive seen in pre-season. The only thing that worries me is that he definitely isnt a left winger and it may be better to use him more centrally or on the right.

He never uses his left foot so i dont see the point of him playing on the left. his first instinct is to go inside and that makes things more crowded.

A good season would be 10 goals and five assists. Its something to build on for the season after.

[dww]

last season was a write off for him because he got injured during the summer, and then went off to the olympics unfit.

No doubt playing whilst not 100% didnt do him any favours and it took him until jan / feb to fit his fitness back. By then rafa had pretty much settled on his first choice team and he wasnt in it.

But give him a chance, ive already been impressed with him in the couple of games that ive seen in pre-season. The only thing that worries me is that he definitely isnt a left winger and it may be better to use him more centrally or on the right.

He never uses his left foot so i dont see the point of him playing on the left. his first instinct is to go inside and that makes things more crowded.

A good season would be 10 goals and five assists. Its something to build on for the season after.

Considering he would be playing wide left I think contributing that amount (similar to Kuyt/Benayoun) would be excellent. I very much doubt he will though. I have no idea why people refuse to accept the idea of him as a wide forward in the style of Kuyt. to me it is his best role and coming in from the left would seem more suited to a right footer with limited game intelligence to me too. Pires never used his left foot either.

I have no idea why people are making so much of Rafa's comments - he always seems to talk positively about people in the squad. More often than not particularly the fringe players.

I'd love Babel to succeed but I can't see it happening. Like Pennant it is not so much the raw materials as brain controlling them.

I was impressed half way through last season though when he seemed to accept that he might have to learn and adapt to make it with us. His interview seemed to become a lot less arrogant. We will have to wait to know if he can build on that.

[memzey]

I like Babel and hope he does turn into a brill player for us. But the comparisons with Henry are desperate, myopic and incomparable. Henry was a young misguided winger who turned into a brilliant striker. Babel came in as a striker, tried to play both up front and on the wings and hasn’t managed to do either that well. People argue that he hasn’t been given a run in his favoured position, I believe he’s had two years and just enough opportunities. He frustrates me because he can be so good if a) he looked up, b) used his (good) left foot more often and c) displayed more game intelligence.

Even this preseason, though his fitness is impressive, the same traits are showing. Either no one is teaching him to change/improve (which I can’t believe) or he’s just unable to take it in.

I’m afraid the only valid comparison we should be using is Baros. Promising so much, delivering so little. I hope to be proven completely wrong.

I agree he's not half the player Henry is or was at the same stage in his career, but just to be clear on the point I was making - The comparison was not between the two of them as players in any way, rather it was between LFC and Juve as selling clubs. Juve saw a player that failed to make it in their team, going on to prove he was better then they thought elsewhere. I think if we get rid of Babel he could do the same to us.

[Red_Polo]

Comes across as quite determined and seems to be applying himself so fingers crossed. Rafa was obviously never as dead set on selling him as some articles seemed to suggest earlier this summer.

He's one of those players that always seems to lose out because of the moments of indecision rather than lack of skill or pace. If he can improve that he could be a big asset to us.

[ric.williams]

i think babel is **** at left wing, he should be backup to torres i think

[Guest]

i think babel is **** at left wing, he should be backup to torres i think

I also think he should be converted as a front man. He's strong enough to hold the ball up and he's got a good goalscoring record. He needs to develop his game intelligence and awareness though if he's to become a top class striker, and he doesn't seem to be learning too much on that front.

[kingfunk]

i think babel is **** at left wing, he should be backup to torres i think

Would be way way better on the right wing imo, but that position is untouchable right now, unless Kuyt gets injured which does not happen very often, I think we have the right side sorted now with GJ and Kuyt. so I agree that back up for Torres is best. but will it be good enough for him is the question??