http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...-last-chance-at-liverpool-fc-100252-23844358/ Jun 11 2009 by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo Comments (10)Recommend (3) 1 2 next Ryan Babel RYAN BABEL wants another chance to prove he can become more than just an Anfield supersub next season. The Dutch youngster has struggled for consistency since his £11 million move from Ajax two years ago and looked likely to be made available this summer. But after ending his season with a substitute appearance for Holland last night, he insisted he wants to stay at Anfield and fight for his future. The Dutchman could fetch around £10m in the transfer market, but his agent Winnie Haatrecht said: “Ryan is very happy at Liverpool and clearly doesn't want to leave. "He still has a three-year contract.†Babel's impact since he arrived at Anfield has been largely as a goalscoring substitute. His goal at West Ham in May was his ninth from the subs' bench, halfway to David Fairclough's incredible club record of 18 supersub strikes. But boss Rafa Benitez made it clear he would be happy if Babel failed to match Fairclough’s achievement after challenging the player to establish himself as a permanent fixture in his starting line-up. “Ryan has done well as an impact player, which is not easy when you are young, but we think he can do more than that,†Benitez said. “Our view of Ryan is a player who starts games and has an impact from the beginning. But first of all he has to improve tactically.†Babel started only 13 times last season, and was left out of the squad altogether twice in the final month of the campaign. But when Benitez spoke recently about young players who he hoped could make an impact next season, he pointedly included the Dutch youngster. “I'm positive because we were talking recently about how Fernando [Torres] and Steven Gerrard didn't play together for a long time,†he said. “Hopefully, they will manage that more next season – and we also have good young players like David Ngog, Nabil El Zhar, Ryan Babel and Emiliano Insua coming through. “We have a very good squad but we can still improve a little bit. How much – enough to win the title? I'm sure it will be enough to compete.†Babel reprised a familiar role last night, coming on as a substitute as Holland celebrated their qualification for the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Norway. Six Liverpool players, meanwhile, are preparing for the Confederations Cup which kicks off this weekend in South Africa, the Spanish quintet of Torres, Alonso, Riera, Reina and Arbeloa – plus Italian full-back Andrea Dossena. Torres played the full 90 minutes of Spain's final warm-up match against Azerbaijan earlier this week, and boss Vicente del Bosque explained: “The players from the Premier League had gone 15 days without playing and (Santi) Cazorla had been carrying an injury. “Therefore we tried to distribute the time, although we gave more to Torres because we wanted him to scor. It was important for morale.â€
Just reminded me we spend 11 million on him If we get a decent over around5-6 million I say sell him and if not give him another season to see what he can do.
The lazy cnut has ducked out of enough ice baths for me. He has no heart or fighting spirit and for me was the main reason we lost at Boro last February that ultimatley cut us adrift of the mancs in the title race. If he stays next season I'll obviously support him but I really hope we flog him in the summer and recoup some of the wasted money we already spent on him.
Agree with comments above ... if we get a half decent offer, sell him ... if we can get Madrid to buy him for £40m, then throw in a couple of our other "fringe" players as a buy one, get two free deal
I still like Babel and think we shouldn't really sell anyone this summer seen as there probably won't be many coming in. I said a while ago I'd be more than happey to see him stay at Liverpool another year if he pulls his socks up, doesn't moan and gets his head down. Hopefully he has matured and realised he has a fantastic opportunity at one of the biggest clubs in the world that any player would give his right arm for. Get your head down Ryan and prove us all wrong...
Well he has the ability and the above would be the ideal outcome for both the club and the player but bottom line is the guy is a twat of the highest degree.In all likelihood hes not gonna improve his attitude-we cant just keep giving him chances and playing him on the off chance that one day he'll decide that hes gonna try.Get rid.
Babel is the fastest player at liverpool fc he has a shot and some good moves. i say keep him. we would come to regret selling him i reckon. The lad is young and has tonnes of potential if he wants to stay then let him.
He has so many assets its just the mental strength and attitude he lacks which is a massive part of playing for Liverpool.I say we sell with a buy back clause like the mancs did with Rossi so that we have first option on him if he comes good. Hes a fragile character and needs to be loved and played all the time to get his confidence high-he wont get that at anfield.
Every squad is going to have a player or two that don't seem to be completely essential but Ryan Babel could still be a valuable asset to us. For the amount of money that we'd get for him i can't see us replacing him with someone near as good. Not convinced he'll ever be first team material but as a lad to come from the bench or when we're short on numbers he's a fairly decent back up.
Id almost forgotten about babel. he has cried wolf far to many times. What happens is Rafa gives him a chance,and his attitude and commitment is terrible,then rafa drops him because of this...and then he asks for another chance. its happened a few times. and i think we should sell him,and get what we can for him. we cant afford to be carrying passengers next season.
Some harsh words here about Babel. He obviously wants to play for the club. He's a blank expression kind of face doesn't mean he's lazy or apathetic. He scored the winning goal against United at Anfield this season. The stadium erupted and he still had his expressionless face. It doesn't mean he doesn't care it's just his way. I'm not saying I wouldnt let him go if a good offer came in because I'm not sure he's suited to play in England. I don't think he's a natural winger that we need and I don't think he can play up front. I think he'd do really well at somewhere like Athletico
In fairness he might have wanted the loan move to get some 1st team football so he could prove to Liverpool that he's good enough. I don't think a loan move would be the worst thing for him.
He is a good player, but he is a striker, simple as. Play him up front then you will see. As for the Ajax loan it was in an attempt to play under van basten, who rates him very highly and has compared his eye for goal with himself, and play upfront so he could show what he is all about and come back with a strong case for playing upfront
We were in the middle of a title challenge and had fcuk all money to spend in January and Babel went to his agent and Ajax and set up a deal behind Rafa's back before ever trying to go to the club to pitch the idea to them first.If you think his motives were for the good of Liverpool you're being naive-he was pissed off at not playing himself so he wanted to go back to his comfort zone and back to his recording studio for a few months.