The boy to win us number 19!

[Shaggy]

Sell him.

[BobTheCharmer]

Sell him.

why? he should start next game up front.

[pondus]

Sell him.

Headless chicken, can't control the ball, no football brain, wrong decisions all the way, lazy, can't tackle, doesn't look bothered, waste of £11 mill. Hope we can get back at least £3-4 mill when we sell, and we should do that as soon as possible.

[Exiled_red]

I'm worried about the lack of depth in our squad we need to improve quality, but we also need numbers I feel we'll have to keep him as he can cover a number of positions despite the fact he frustrates us alot

[flyboy]

dumbest 11 million pound footballer ever

[JohnDoe]

why? he should start next game up front.

For Burnley, maybe.

[tommyg]

Would rather have had Pennant on the left side for us today. Players like him really make me mad for us selling Kewell, i know ill get slammed for liking him but he played fantastically last year in the turkish league, while it may be weaker he still lit it up!

[souliv]

he was shocking never looked up for it at all , get rid of not good enough , Riera would have made a difference on the wing today

[Shaggy]

why?

Because he's absolutely ****.

[poorscousertommy]

Face it Babel is an under whelming waste of money.

I have really had it with him. He has had plenty of chances and all he does is give the ball away. I'd love him to prove me wrong but I can't see it.

[DannyMan2006]

I'm not going to waste to much time on this subject, as peoples minds are already made up on this.

My personal opinion is that if given playing time Babel will do well for us this year.

But my main point is about todays game. A short sighted view today would be to say that Babel and Kuyt were ****e and that Yossi and Voronin were excellent, as we created more when they came on and looked better in possession.

What people forget is that when Yossi and Voronin came on Spurs dropped deep and allowed them time on the ball, something they did not allow babel and Kuyt. If a team pressure you it is always harder. If a team sit back you are allowed to play and will always look half decent.

On the subject of starting games, I would say that based on the end of last season Yossi deserved to start out wide on the left. He is more comfortable on the ball than Babel and always will be. Babel offers different options.

[rushscored4]

Step up Ryan Babel. Massive season for him. Lets stop playing him wide and use him as either back up to Torres or alongside him. the pace of those two up top will frighten the life out of defenders.

If Babel can have a good season and bag us 10-15 goals he could be the man that brings home the title. We need something extra from somewhere along with the goals that Torres, Gerrard & Kuyt will bring.

If he gets an early goal, some decent pitch time and can get on a run his confidence will be up and I don't reckon he'll look back. (Fingers, toes, nipples and penis all crossed in anticipation).

I want to see more John-Barnes-a-like than Des-Barnes-a-deadun-from-corrie-years-ago-alike.

Oh dear...

[kris90210]

he looks **** because he isnt playing in a position suited to his strengths. If you put Torres out on the left he'd look terrible too.

The funny thing is that even the dutch play him on the left and i cant understand why that is because his left foot isnt that great and certainly his delivery from the left is pretty poor.

if anything i would be tempted to play him on the right.

there's more to come from this lad and we might only see it when he's played up front or behind the striker. but i wouldnt write him off because he's started this season very well and hopefully we will see the real babel and not just the hype that surrounded him.

So the dutch coaching staff and Rafa Benitez - basically the people who know him best, and know more about football than any of us - choose to play him on the left... Just because you dont understand why doesnt mean that isnt the best place to play him.

He's played on the left so that theoretically he can cut inside onto his stronger right foot - ala Messi (but the other way around obviously). The problem is he's just not that good.

If he played up front he would have far less time and space on the ball than he does playing on the left and he already looks flustered with no composure. If we had him playing up front for us he would give us one thing and one thing only - pace to run in behind the defence. But his touch is so poor that it would take an inch perfect pass to put him through. Exactly the same situation with Cisse, which is why he was being played on the right towards the end of his time with us.

Ask yourself this. Has Babel improved since he's been with us? Two years now. Im not seeing it at all. Ineffective again today. In my mind Babel is third choice left wing right now behind Benayoun and Riera. No where near Liverpool FC class based on his performances to date

[DannyMan2006]

So the dutch coaching staff and Rafa Benitez - basically the people who know him best, and know more about football than any of us - choose to play him on the left... Just because you dont understand why doesnt mean that isnt the best place to play him.

He's played on the left so that theoretically he can cut inside onto his stronger right foot - ala Messi (but the other way around obviously). The problem is he's just not that good.

If he's good enough for Holland and LFC he can't be that bad. If he was truly poor he'd be out the door. We know Rafa doesn't suffer fools.

His problem is that in Holland the players either side of the forward in a 4-3-3 never go to the byline and try and dig out a cross. As a result he has never been trained to do so. A lot of that is the reason he has struggled since being here. For me his best position is behind the striker as he comes from deep and can run with the ball.

Our current best team for me would be Yossi on the left, Kuyt on the right, Gerrard and Mascher in midfield and Babel just in behind Torres. That would be dynamite.

[Craig_H]

It doesnt matter one bit what the dutch staff think, or what Babel does for Holland.

We're not Holland, we dont play World Cup qualifiers against Iceland, Scotland and Macedonia. We're Liverpool, we play in the Premier League and in this environment, Babel is offering nothing.