Ryan Babel has let his over-inflated ego get the better of him after breaking ranks to publicly criticise Rafa Benitez in the Dutch media.
Babel has been an enormous disappointment since his signing two seasons ago. The player, and his brother who acts as his agent, had tried to engineer a move on loan last January to Ajax which fell through. In May, Benitez was believed to have seen enough and suggested that Ryan could look for pastures new. The lack of funds coming in to the club forced Rafa to keep Babel as cover on the wing and even for up front.
Rafa told Babel he needed to improve his attitude and Babel himself promised to knuckle down and make himself a success at Anfield.
However, only 2 days after the transfer window has shut Ryan Babel has began his disruptive Ajax talk again.
Babel has already been given chances so far this season – named in the starting XI in the defeat to Spurs on the opening day and then providing nothing when he was brought on in the defeat to Aston Villa.
More worryingly for Ryan is the fact that he was dropped from the Liverpool squad that went to face Bolton at the weekend and has also been dropped from the Dutch national side. He has only narrowly gained a minor recall due to injury to one of the Dutch midfielders. With the World Cup looming he clearly thinks rocking the boat and getting a loan move back to Holland will help guarantee his place for Holland in the summer of 2010.
“There have been a lot of things promised, but they haven’t been followed up. I would get to play for more minutes and have more chances, but after the first defeat, I only lost my place.
“I think half a season at Ajax with a view to the World Cup wouldn’t be a bad idea. I can add something to the Ajax squad.
“Loaning me out was not an option (in the summer). Now we have agreed to review the situation in January.
“I see the current situation as a signal that I really have to get playing.”
Ryan Babel has made 75 average appearances with Liverpool since his £11.5M arrival from Ajax in the summer of 2009.
Simon, I think you hit the nail on the head. Rafa is certainly not the best man manager around and fails to make the most out of talented players. Can you name the last player that Rafa has actually nurtured and brought through the ranks since he joined.
Talented individuals don’t come often and you need to commit the time and effort to nurture them. It also means backing them up in public and showing that you believe in them by giving them an extended run in the team.
Sure Babel could show more graft but not everyone is alike, what drives and motivates one individual may not necessarily work for others. That’s what you pay a manager big bucks for, not to stay on the sidelines making endless notes! You can’t have a one size fits all attitude otherwise you only end up with a certain type of player in your team. I don’t see Liverpool winning much with a team full of Kuyts and Mascheranos.
I can’t remember Arsene Wenger ever publicly attacking one of his players, he always backs them no matter how bad their offense and that creates trust between player and manager. I’m sure in private he has a go at them but that’s fine. Nothing good ever comes out of publicly embarrassing your players.
I have seen Stevie G play right fullback, central midfield, right wing and centre forward. His average games can be counted on one hand. It is all about pulling on that red shirt and sweating blood for every one of us who pay our hard earned cash to follow ‘our’ team. Ryan Babel hasnt grasped that yet and must give us more to justify his privileged position. Shut up, work hard and earn your place, no-one walks into our team on potential or reputation alone. But above all feel the pride and expectation that comes with wearing that shirt and representing us all.
Babel has got ability no question. It’s all well and good blaming Rafa suggesting he’s played Babel out of position and that if he’d played him up front things would be better. Thing is Babel isn’t a 12 year old having a trial for the county team. He’s an internation footballer that has come from one of the most successful youth systems of all time. He should be able to play on the flank. Period. Any other nonsense about Rafa ‘upsetting’ Babel by not playing him is also tosh. There are plenty of scousers that would sweat blood and tears to pull on that red shirt and play anywhere the gaffer asked. I’d even pay them for the privlage. Babel is an international player on a huge contract playing for one of the biggest and most important clubs in world football. The lad needs to show more hunger to be in the team and ram any negative comments about him down peoples throats. He could do well to have a look at his captain, who’s been asked to play just about everywhere over the years. He’s never moaned about it and always performed with distinction. It’s purely an attitude thing with Babel. As Carra said, some people see coming to Liverpool as the end of their journey, rather than the start of the hard work. Babel falls perectly into that category.
I agree with Moses Rafa is sitting on our Theiry Henry just let him play up front with Torres u will the fire in him.
As with most LFC fans, I am losing patience with Babel. He has demonstrated over and over that he just does not have the guts, the winning mentality, to be a truly top player.
That said, I can’t help thinking that a better “man manager” than Rafa might have been able to get a little more out of him. Not saying Rafa is to blame, just saying that some other manager who is more of a “arm around the shoulder” type of guy may have got through to Ryan where Rafa clearly has not.
I think this applies to several other players too. Rafa seems to need players to be tough and self-sufficient (that’s OK) and he doesn’t seem able to work well with players with more fragile egos.
So, it may be better for everyone if Babel goes out on loan. Who knows, he may just realise that he has to grow up and put in the graft and he may yet become the player we would like him to be.
Babel has the right to feel hard done by last year when Gerrard was out injured was the perfect oppotunity to play him up front with Torres but we chose to pick Lucas instead which baffles me when Mascherano and Alonso are allready in the team how many defence minded midfeilders do we need to pick most teams only use one no wonder we drew too many games last year and Benayoun doesnt look the same player playing on the left and doesnt give us enough width Reira is much better
As far as i can see the boy desperately wants to play football and not just 5 minutes here and there. That in itself is admirable. Considering the extended amount of chances Lucas has had I can somewhat understand his frustration. He doesn’t just want to pick up a pay packet and relax. However the only place where he can prove he’s worth the chance is on the pitch, like Yossi did. Unfortunately his performance against Spurs did him no favours. The anger I’ve seen from Liverpool fans seems a bit disproportionate to the ‘crime’ considering Javier Mascherano was openly whoring himself out to Barca a couple of months ago. This guy actually wants to play for Liverpool.
Rafa made a blunder in signing Babal for it hasn’t worked out either way.Now he doesn’t know what to do and the Dutchman wants too move on as well.We won’t get anywhere near what we invested in him.
What an attitude problem! When you dont play well or look like you havnt tried very hard, you’ll play less games. Common sense…
He should stop whining and focus on his game.
Babel and many other (failled) Dutch players like him went way too young to big clubs. And think they’ve made it and don’t have to do anything anymore.
And people should run for them. And not on the field only.
They can’t see that they have to chance starting with their attitude and a big pay cut.
We should have cut our losses on Tuesday evening and offered £2.5 Million for Kranjcar plus Babel on loan for the season.
Portsmouth would have jumped at such a deal and we would have got a proven EPL player into the squad.
Babel at Portsmouth would have been made play every week with no where to hide. The saying ‘sink or swim’ would have come into it.
Flog him.
I honestly thought we’d be seeing the best of him by now, perhaps we are. I’d rather have Dossena at left-mid, that’s how highly I rate Babel. There’s no compelling reason to play him, especially not up-front. It would be nice if we can get £8m+ for him even if it’s just to pay some interest off our loans.
We should have switched him for someone useful during the summer, instead, we’ve got him dragging his bottom lip around the training field and hanging his dirty-washing out in public. Cheers, Ryan.
Although it is a shame he has come out publicly on this, I have some sympathy for him.
I actually think Ryan Babel is one of our most talented players and I would love him to start more games.
I don’t think he’s had a good run in the team and as he said he seems to get dropped after one poor performance.
I’m sure he will play against Leeds in the Carling cup. He needs to really show what he is about – but to be honest the more I see of him I am resigned to us selling him. Of course it’s all Rafa’s fault that he has difficulty in keeping the ball and trying to be too ambitious and then losing possession 😉 ….. I don’t recall that he even tracks back to try and win the ball back that often.
Is he really that much of a lightweight or is there no fire in his belly for LFC and he just wants to play for his country like Michael Owen?
It’s a shame he has said all this and we can only hope that much of it is taken out of context. What he should have said was he was going to take the manager’s advice, knuckle down and work on the aspects of his game he can improve.
Fingers crossed.
Yes deffinately agree, as a season ticket holder ive wacthed every game hes played in for liverpool, at first he showed potential and there was a general consensus that he would develop into a decent player, but his ego and his stinking attitude has got in the way of what may have been a promising career.
rafa is right it could posibly be the time for him to look for pastures new, who was once brandished somewhat of a super-sub should now super-do one.
Why not start him in the league cup or reserve team for a few games…see if he can actually flourish there and gain some confidence… I agree that it was a bad buy, but lets see if we can sell for a profit. emphasis on ‘try’
It amazes me that players like him we buy for 11.5 MILLION and then they complain that they are on the bench and think its their decision whether they go on loan or not.
I must say, I’m shocked more research wasnt done on Babel before we bought him. It seemed a bit of a rushed buy to me at the time, there was no link with us to him and then the next minute he signs…. could be wrong though!
You will never make a great footballer out of someone that has more interest in being a Rapper. If Babel had two choices, famous rap star or famous footballer, he would choose the first! Ask any world class player if he loves anything as much as football and the only thing they will say is my family, there’s never any desire to be anything else but a footballer. Babel on the other hand…..
If these quotes are true then yes a promise has been broken. A promise by Ryan Babel that for the wages he is paid, he will try is hardest and be willing to learn. I am not a player knocker but I ask Ryan has he fulfilled his part of any promise/deal?
Babel’s shocking attitude is the reason he will never be a world class player. He has all the attributes necessary – pace, skill, athleticism – but he’s a lazy, whining git, who thinks it should be handed to him on a plate.
We’re well past the stage of getting used to a new league now – he’s had 2 full seasons and at 22 needs to start delivering on his early promise.
For all his talk about wanting to get a chance in the 1st team, whenever he gets on the pitch he looks disinterested. Not a match winner. If we can get another club to pay anything like the money we paid for him we should bite their hands off.
I don’t appreciate the way you people are attacking babel, he is a striker not a left winger.
You here rafa talking about how they so many options upfront when do you ever see that option being babel
Why should a player have to come to liverpool and adapt himself to fit the needs of benitez, i’m sure if he’d signed for arsenal wenger would have got the best out of him.
It’s funny how rafa is allowing that waste of space lucas to get a decent run in the side but not babel who has far more talent.
Drop Gerrard back into midfield benayoun on the left and see how babel and torres do up top.
Rafa’s had 5 years to win the title if he does not do it this season then he needs to go
Funny you should say that – because I’m fairly sure the Dutch were playing him on the wing as well.
Look its not Babel’s ability thats at question its his commitment and attitude ! whether he’s meant to be a striker or not is irrelevant, if you sign for a team you must invest yourself in the team “wherever” your needed with the knowledge that its never about one man but the collective.
When babel plays most of the time it’s like he cant be bothered only every now and then do we see the real babel, i mean he never comes off with a sweat on. If he ran his ass off, closed down every ball and at the very least “tried” i wouldn’t have a problem.
Yes he”s played out of position and yes he frequently only gets sub status which no doubt effect his confidence but you have to try and be professional surly ? , you have to try and prove you have the class to cope with adversity ? and that you belong at a club like Liverpool !, don’t you ?
I just want to say that im not one for wanting babel to go, i just want him to work as hard as he can so that the real babel comes through !
After an outburst like this he has put the spotlight rite on himself ( if it was’nt already) but for me babel has some questions he should have asked himself before he spoke out…
” Have i tried as hard as i can to make this work ?
” Am i giving up here ? ,
” Will i now get a better chance anywhere else after my time here at one of
the biggest clubs in the world ?
” Has Rafa shown confidence in me from the start of this season ?
If he’s honest i don’t think he can truthfully say he’s given it his all and for me , rafa giving him a start in the first game of the season away to Spurs shows that he’s still willing to give him a chance if he puts the work in.
I hope that Babel sees sense and knuckles down ( like he said he would! ) because if he dose the international place he’s so desperate for will take care of it’s self .
Anfield online don’t try and be smart, he played part of a three man attack at ajax, just like henry and messi do at Barcelona, so i guess those two are wingers also.
Furthermore robbie keane is a striker and rafa tried to play him on the left too before he was dropped to the bench.
Dirk Kuyt is a striker why is he playing on the wing?
Why are strikers playing as midfielders and a midfielder playing as a striker
wow…what a lot of replies… i think we should keep adding and adding… :p oh and babel is an arrogant sod who is worse than momo sissoko! sell him rafa for £5mil – at least it’s something!
in rafa we trust – in the yanks we dont