THE Ryan Babel thread

[Craig_H]

Can't see why everyone is having a go and singling him out. Gerrard, Kuyt and Torres were just as bad as him yesterday.

No they werent. And even if they were, it's because he's like that more often than not. They arent.

[SK]

Anyone singling him out is stupid. When Benayoun came on, Gerrard was playing in midfield - our passing/distribution was much better for this reason. And did Benni frequently have 2-4 people marking him? If Babel had come off the bench in that second half, I guarentee he would have had a similar impact.

he wasn't the only one who had a (very) bad game and wasn't at fault for us loosing(at least not entirely), but it's become so frequent and predictable of him it just frustrating more than anything else. and imo gerrads distribusion was awful, he kept on making "difficoult" passes through the middle insted of spraying the ball around, which in all honesty lucas did, just not frequently enough but i hope that will learn. lucas, unlike babel, has improved since last season!

[Jack D Rips]

Anyone singling him out is stupid. When Benayoun came on, Gerrard was playing in midfield - our passing/distribution was much better for this reason. And did Benni frequently have 2-4 people marking him? If Babel had come off the bench in that second half, I guarentee he would have had a similar impact.

No he wouldnt. Every time Yossi got the ball he looked like setting something up. Ryan wouldnt do that. Im not going to run him down like some others have, but the simple truth is that after 2 years its plain to see that he is not going to make it either as a starter or from the bench. On the other hand Yossi has proven after 2 years that he is a worthy squad member

[Bender]

he excels in having no game intelligence at all.

his lack of hunger is outstanding to

his uselessness with both feet is also a rare skill

He can run fast.....

begs the question what prompted our esteemed manager to shell out £11million considering each season he will go on record and say he needs money and lack of funds.......babel has shown nothing yet we still keep him when we should have sold him

[the rev leeroy brown]

begs the question what prompted our esteemed manager to shell out £11million considering each season he will go on record and say he needs money and lack of funds.......babel has shown nothing yet we still keep him when we should have sold him

11 mill for babel was a steal. he was courted by most of the top euro teams and for the first season you can't call him a failure. everybody expected him to set the league alight last year but for a combination of IMO bad man management of the player and a bad attitude on the players behalf he never progressed. rafa has gone on record as saying he has bee immensley impressed with babels fitness, attitude and play during pre-season. one ****e game when he was not the worst player so far this season. lets not forgwet that. he WILL come good this year.

[Bender]

he's actually declined as a footballer.....as for coming good well we have heard this from both the player and manager before...there's no doubting he has the talent....but it's wether he has/wants to apply this or wether the manager can get him to produce this

[red g]

11 mill for babel was a steal. he was courted by most of the top euro teams and for the first season you can't call him a failure. everybody expected him to set the league alight last year but for a combination of IMO bad man management of the player and a bad attitude on the players behalf he never progressed. rafa has gone on record as saying he has bee immensley impressed with babels fitness, attitude and play during pre-season. one ****e game when he was not the worst player so far this season. lets not forgwet that. he WILL come good this year.

1 ****e game every time he plays!!!

i admire your optimism, and everyone was crap yesterday, but i just dont see it in ryan

[MrMichael]

No they werent. And even if they were, it's because he's like that more often than not. They arent.

This.

Although I totally agree that Babel wasn't the only poor performer yesteday, the others in the team have regularly had good games for us in the past season or so, Ryan hasn't. I thought he was abysmal yesterday, looked disinterested and made very little effort. Kuyt on the other side had equally little end product, but at least he was tackling back and looking for the ball.

I really wouldn't play Babel on the left again, Riera and especially Benayoun are significantly better there than he is. I'd consider him upfront if Torres is out, but not out wide, he just isn't right there.

Yes we had other issues, we were all at sea in the centre of the pitch; we really need Agger to stay fit this year and we really need someone who can distribute the ball in midfield, but despite that Babel was one of our worst players yesterday without any doubt in my mind.

[Exiled_red]

Babel had numerous occasions when he was one on one with Corluka and either lost the ball, ran into a blind alley or simply played the ball back where it had come. Granted the rest of the team didnt play well but he was especially poor yesterday.

Impact substitute when the game is a little more open is his best position IMO. And generally when we're winning and the other team is forced to attack. Bringing him on when we're losing would be pointless as it would be too congested for him.

If that's the case the only thing he is good for is boosting our goal difference, if he his poor when the game is tight and can't change a game there's no point in keeping him.

[Exiled_red]

[/B]

No he wouldnt. Every time Yossi got the ball he looked like setting something up. Ryan wouldnt do that. Im not going to run him down like some others have, but the simple truth is that after 2 years its plain to see that he is not going to make it either as a starter or from the bench. On the other hand Yossi has proven after 2 years that he is a worthy squad member

Yossi is IMO one of the few players we have who in a game where we are poor can up the tempo and make things happen. Like Gerrard he looks like he really wants to do something about the situation and make something happen, when too many other players look like they have run out of ideas or can't be arsed

[Craig_H]

Yossi is IMO one of the few players we have who in a game where we are poor can up the tempo and make things happen. Like Gerrard he looks like he really wants to do something about the situation and make something happen, when too many other players look like they have run out of ideas or can't be arsed

That 'make something happen' thing is what i mean when i refer to 'make the difference' type of players. Those who make something happen, as opposed to relaxingly waiting for it to happen of its own accord. Yossi's the 3rd best we have at it, and he needs to play.

[Imy]

Sway teams up with football star

Sway teams up with football star

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/music/newsid_10000000/newsid_10001000/10001044.stm

By Nesta McGregor 1Xtra entertainment reporter Sway

UK hip hop artist Sway says work on his upcoming album is nearly complete and reveals that he's teamed up with Liverpool footballer Ryan Babel on one track. He also talks about being an 'outcast' from the UK hip hop scene and says he turned down the chance to work in America because he still has something to prove in the UK.

__________________________________________________ _______

How's work going on your new release, The Signature LP 2?

I'm nearly there man, I've got some really nice guests on there. Obviously there's another feature from Akon on there, we have Neutrino on there - he's making a comeback - I've got Craig David on there as well. I've just done a track with Tinchy Stryder. We've done a re-make of Silver and Gold with Tinchy, and just working with all different kinds of people, different producers. The album's shaping up really well, I'm really excited about it. I wish I could release it tomorrow but everything has to be done through the proper channels.

And what about rumours of working with Liverpool player Ryan Babel?

There's a lot of truth in that. He's actually on the song with me and Neutrino. That was something I wanted to keep in the bag for a minute but obviously you just revealed it. Somebody's on my Twitter. Yeah, Ryan Babel's a good mate of mine. He's a nice guy, he's a sick rapper. The way he flips his flow is marvellous man, so I wanted him to do a bit - half Dutch, half British, and he really pulled it off man. I think it's a track that people are gonna like.
Sway Sway says he wasn't happy with the repsonse to his last album

Obviously Rafa Benitez is happy with him doing it and it's gonna be on the album. Are you going to release it?

He's his own man, he wanted to do the track so we got together and made it happen. We linked up in New York as well. He's a nice guy and I have a lot of fun with him.

Making this album you've obviously got more money, more production, more contacts. Is it still as UK sounding as you previous stuff?

The Signature LP was going to be my last independent, but I didn't like the response that it got. I felt that album was really slept on with the response that it got. I always came up against some kind of barrier. I couldn't promote this track properly because Lemar had his album coming out and I couldn't step on his toes. And then when it was time to bring the Akon track to the forefront Akon was already on eight other tracks that were already on the A, B and C list on every single playlist.

So there was no room for Sway. I faced a lot of difficulties while releasing that album, so Akon and them lot said, 'Come out to the States and make it happen' and I was like, 'No, I want another shot in the UK'. So I decided to call it the Signature 2, because that's what it is. This is me coming at the game again. I'm someone that if I feel like I didn't get the result then I go harder again.

Dizzee, Tinchy, Chipmunk and Ironik have all had a phenomenal year. Have you had to change the music you make to try to pip those guys?

Not necessarily. The thing about me is that I was always outcast by the UK hip hop scene because I wasn't rap enough in terms of the flow. It wasn't straight up hip hop 98 tempo and all that. And I was always outcast from the Grime scene because I wasn't about clashing it, always going at people. So I made up a little lane in the middle and as I watched the game a lot of people have joined me in that lane, where you can rap over Grime and be cool.

People don't question Sway when he's on a Grime beat and people don't question Sway when he's on a hip hop beat. Sway just does Sway. If you hear me on a dance record or an electro record it's because I've been doing that for a long time.

Are you hopeful for a Mobo nomination when they're released next week (26 August)?

If it happens it happens. At the end of the day there's a lot of people who've released a lot of stuff in the last year. Like I said, the Signature LP didn't go the direction I wanted it to go but if I did get a nomination it'd be all good man.

Sway was talking to 1Xtra's Nesta McGregor

[kingfunk]

Ryan babels talents are as follows:

[Harv]

Babels talents are giving out handjobs in back alleys in the 'Dam.

He's a ****ing joke. I hate watching him play for us...even more than Voronin.

[Jack D Rips]

He flips his flow good, which is good to know