Babel to Come Good?

[red g]

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has tipped Ryan Babel to be a major force at Anfield this season after admitting he is impressed by his fitness.


But having now spent two years in England, the Spaniard feels Babel is ready to step up and make his mark in the coming campaign.

"We are really impressed with him this year because he came back after the summer really fit, he's trying to do his best and it is very positive when you have a player with talent," Benitez said.

"The first two years is always difficult in another country but I think if you have the right mentality like he has now, he will improve."

Liverpool face Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday in the first leg of a two-match tour that also takes in Singapore.

Rather than viewing an arduous trip to the Far East as an unwanted distraction, Benitez feels it will prove beneficial for their title assault over the coming season.

"You need to know the players, the understanding between them, the fitness levels, you always have to analyse what happened last year and how you can improve," he said.

"The preparation in pre-season is really crucial so this week will be important for us, we'll try to train properly and try to play well if we can. It is a key part of the season."



I would love to see Babel step upto the plate but i just imagine him getting pissed off a month into the season not getting enough chances. He certainly has talent just lacks application and a footballing brain.

[the rev leeroy brown]

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has tipped Ryan Babel to be a major force at Anfield this season after admitting he is impressed by his fitness.


But having now spent two years in England, the Spaniard feels Babel is ready to step up and make his mark in the coming campaign.

"We are really impressed with him this year because he came back after the summer really fit, he's trying to do his best and it is very positive when you have a player with talent," Benitez said.

"The first two years is always difficult in another country but I think if you have the right mentality like he has now, he will improve."

Liverpool face Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday in the first leg of a two-match tour that also takes in Singapore.

Rather than viewing an arduous trip to the Far East as an unwanted distraction, Benitez feels it will prove beneficial for their title assault over the coming season.

"You need to know the players, the understanding between them, the fitness levels, you always have to analyse what happened last year and how you can improve," he said.

"The preparation in pre-season is really crucial so this week will be important for us, we'll try to train properly and try to play well if we can. It is a key part of the season."



I would love to see Babel step upto the plate but i just imagine him getting pissed off a month into the season not getting enough chances. He certainly has talent just lacks application and a footballing brain.

hopefully, just hopefully, this shows rafa gonna give babel a fair chance this year and not **** 5 minute sub appearances. would love to see him make it. we all know he's got the talent to be great.

[JohnDoe]

I had high expectations of him last season, now I don't expect anything from him. Maybe it will be good for him, but Babel just screams of being a player who has the small club mentality. He'll eventually go to some mid-table club and do great.

[magicalbarnes]

hopefully, just hopefully, this shows rafa gonna give babel a fair chance this year and not **** 5 minute sub appearances. would love to see him make it. we all know he's got the talent to be great.

Hopefully he can realise his potential this season.

It's not reall like Rafa to hand out individual praise, so he must have spotted some improvement in him during the training sessions.

[red g]

Hopefully he can realise his potential this season.

It's not reall like Rafa to hand out individual praise, so he must have spotted some improvement in him during the training sessions.

might be the sammy lee effect i certainly think that Rafa's old Mentality would not have worked, good to see he is trying different methods

[Neil Young]

Hopefully he can realise his potential this season.

It's not reall like Rafa to hand out individual praise, so he must have spotted some improvement in him during the training sessions.

Or he wants to sell him and is talking him up.

For the record I think he'll stay but we'll see.

[rudedog]

If Babel can come good it will be one of biggest turn arounds in player history. I don't think I've seen anything thats made me think he's got what it takes. I'd love to see him do it though so will get behind him 100%.

at least until he has his first **** game

[carheex]

He's bound to have come back fitter than everyone else as he's been playing in a tournament in the USA.
As long as he's happy, I'd keep him but he'd rarely get in the starting line up - as a supersub he could be our Solskjaer. He's scored plenty for us from the bench.

[The_weatherman]

He's bound to have come back fitter than everyone else as he's been playing in a tournament in the USA.
As long as he's happy, I'd keep him but he'd rarely get in the starting line up - as a supersub he could be our Solskjaer. He's scored plenty for us from the bench.

What tournament what was that though?

[poorscousertommy]

He's bound to have come back fitter than everyone else as he's been playing in a tournament in the USA.
As long as he's happy, I'd keep him but he'd rarely get in the starting line up - as a supersub he could be our Solskjaer. He's scored plenty for us from the bench.

So had all the Spanish players

[The Birdman]

The first 2 years are the hardest???
After another average season Rafa will be saying "it takes 3 years to adjust to a different country and league"
Point no.1 is it shouldn't take Babel 2 years to get himself fit, I hope he does really well as he has the pace and build to succeed in the Prem but I think this is just Rafa trying to build him up to either sell him or hope it has the positive affect on RB form

[FatTony]

feck me there are some negative buggers on here....

Babel looked very good towards the end of his first season, he was terrorising defences. Last season he had a few injuries and when he did get a chance it just didn't work, but you don't become a bad player overnight.

I'm certain he will turn things around this season and will turn into one of the league's most exciting players.

The Babel glass is half full.

[red g]

feck me there are some negative buggers on here....

Babel looked very good towards the end of his first season, he was terrorising defences. Last season he had a few injuries and when he did get a chance it just didn't work, but you don't become a bad player overnight.

I'm certain he will turn things around this season and will turn into one of the league's most exciting players.

The Babel glass is half full.

hmmm not sure about that, lets see if he becomes a good player overnight

[ronanm]

Babel has potential no doubt - but I don't know whether it's the fact that RB never plays him over 90 minutes that I believe he can't sustain it over 90 minutes. Anyway, was brilliant when he came on against the Scum at Anfield last season and I thought he was going to have a great season. Less of the cameos - it's players like him who will open packed defences at Anfield.

[BigChief]

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has tipped Ryan Babel to be a major force at Anfield this season after admitting he is impressed by his fitness.


But having now spent two years in England, the Spaniard feels Babel is ready to step up and make his mark in the coming campaign.

"We are really impressed with him this year because he came back after the summer really fit, he's trying to do his best and it is very positive when you have a player with talent," Benitez said.

"The first two years is always difficult in another country but I think if you have the right mentality like he has now, he will improve."

Liverpool face Thailand in Bangkok on Wednesday in the first leg of a two-match tour that also takes in Singapore.

Rather than viewing an arduous trip to the Far East as an unwanted distraction, Benitez feels it will prove beneficial for their title assault over the coming season.

"You need to know the players, the understanding between them, the fitness levels, you always have to analyse what happened last year and how you can improve," he said.

"The preparation in pre-season is really crucial so this week will be important for us, we'll try to train properly and try to play well if we can. It is a key part of the season."



I would love to see Babel step upto the plate but i just imagine him getting pissed off a month into the season not getting enough chances. He certainly has talent just lacks application and a footballing brain.

Thanks for only posting once.

By implication, was Babel never keen on his fitness before? Maybe this is a clue that we're not signing any other big name (and Xabi staying), and he's relying on Babel to chip in with a few performances. Therefore a confidence booster.