Ryan Babel
Ryan Babel joined Liverpool Football Club two years ago after Rafa Benitez spotted him whilst playing in an Under 21's tournament. Encouraged by what he saw, Rafa paid £11.5 million for the player after beating off competition from Arsenal and several other clubs.
Unfortunately it appears that Ryan has now become increasingly frustrated with his lack of games. I have sat and thought about this since the news broke and to be honest I cannot understand why.
Here we have a player that although talented, once on the pitch is not playing to his true potential. I have watched him in many games and can understand why Rafa has only let him have a bit part role at the moment. Whenever Ryan is on the pitch, the look of boredom and lack of effort shows up very quickly. The situation changes completely when he is playing for Holland, you would honestly think that you were in fact looking at a totally different player.
Why is this I have asked myself, coming up with the following arguments:
Does he really want to be Liverpool player and fight for his place? I am sure that when he joined the club, he was aware of the rotation policy.
Is because he is being played out of his natural position as a striker?
Rafa seeing his improvement during the closed season decided to play him in our opening game against Tottenham. What a disaster that was, again his heart was not it and he was soon substituted. Ryan has now found himself back on the bench and suddenly realises that his lack of games could affect his world cup selection next year.
All of a sudden, rather than look at himself, he is blaming Rafa Benitez and accusing him of breaking promises. Something which I am sure is totally untrue. A manager is certainly not going to take his chances in fielding an unhappy player as this could upset the balance of the team. Rafa Benitez it is reported as saying that he will of course get his chance due to the amount games that now need to be played. He is also quoted as saying that it can take a new player several seasons to bed in - This I believe is one of the reasons why Bill Shankly kept his new players in the reserves until he felt they were ready.
During all this it appears that Ryan has asked if he can return to Ajax on loan once the January transfer window opens. This is another thing that strikes me as strange, why not speak to Benitez once the summer window had opened, rather than once shut.
Unfortunately, we are now left with a player which will have to sit tight until January. Will we see an improvement in the player and watch him fight for his place, or will he still be a bit part player bidding his time until 1st January when hopefully his wishes will come true.
Older/Newer
« The business of football - your chance to ask the experts | The New Anfield »
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Ryan Babel. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.liverpoolbanter.co.uk/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/147944
Do you not think that its Rafa that could be the problem here and with one or two other player's in our squad??I agree Ryan does look totally out of sorts and looks like his mind is on other things once he gets on to the pitch,but could it be that not only him, others in the team are playing to managers order's which holds them back and denys them the chance to flourish and play there natural game which we only get to see from time to time.Ryan like Dirk look a handfull in an orange shirt for the dutch,maybe we should ask them to wear orange shirts under there red ones when turning out for LFC.
How can it be the manager curbing their talent - that's ridiculous. So potentially the previous poster is saying that Rafa is telling Babel to attack, but don't go too far forward etc etc. How ridiculous does this sound. And as for Kuyt - he is always in the box. It's only Masca that holds back, which is his job.
Ryan was brought with potential so its a shame he is looking for someone to blame for his impressive ability of giving the ball away and not wanting to fight for the team. His comments about the world cup make him sound like another Michael (I'm an England player) Owen.
Mickey,
Unfortunately there are manager's out there that will curb a player's talent. A manager buys a player hopefully to fill a position when it becomes available. In Ryan Babels case I think Rafa saw his potential and decided to use it in whatever way he could. Yes I agree with you Kuyt is always in the box and has proved how good he is doing that. Masherano does hold back but maybe needs to be encouraged to push forward more.
Ryan it appears will not accept the blame for his own inability to fight for his place and team at the moment. I am sure that he would like a place in the Dutch world cup team next year - that will only be achieved if and when he gets back to doing what he can on the field, whether he is at Liverpool or elsewhere, he needs to pick up his game and improve on it.
Big Al, it is of course quite possible that Rafa is the problem. Why he won't let Ryan play in his desired position of striker I don't know. Of course there is the possibility of other players being involved as well. To be honest with you watching the team throughout the closed season and the last few games, several members of the team do not appear to be at all happy.
If they are following the manager's orders, which in turn holds them back and denys them to flourish and allow their natural game to mature. It is a shame because as you say, we only see what they can really do from time and too often with players like Ryan it is only when they are playing in more natural setting that this will happen.
You may well have hit the nail on the head when you say perhaps he should wear the orange shirt under the red.
Wow, Babel played out of position? Really? If he was to play up front, which part of the best strike pairing in the world would you drop? Gerrard or Torres? Just to satisfy this winger.
Babel has had many, many chances. This is his last season at Liverpool. Not once has he played and became 'undroppable'. Benayoun has shown it's possible to force your way into Rafa's team.
ST. Chris,
Yes Babel is being played out of position. I am not suggesting that he plays automatically up front. With Torres and Gerrard playing extremely well together, I know that won't happen. What Babel needs to realise is that if he plays well his chance will come. There is unfortunately going to be time when heaven forbid even Torres or Gerrard will be out of the side for reason or another. If this means adapting his play to another position then so be it. Unfortunately for some reason he appears to be unable to understand this and has decided to place the blame elsewehere.
As you have said, I expect this to be his last season as Liverpool. I cannot honestly see him going out just on loan - I see a sale in the January window. If this does happen then he only has himself to blame.