Ryan Babel will be hauled in front of the Liverpool manager today to explain his comments in Dutch magazine Sportweek.
The magazine published an interview with Ryan, which the player had approved, only hours before Liverpool’s Champions League clash in Hungary.
The Dutch 23 year old who has made 105 Liverpool appearances since he arrived for £11.5M two seasons ago, has bemoaned a lack of opportunities in the side, complained about not being able to wear blue boots, and had a general bicker about the boss.
Benitez simply stated that he would be asking Babel to explain his actions.
In what can be considered a tongue-in-cheek retaliation at Babel, Rafa praised David N’gog – a 21 year old who HAS been taking his opportunities. The young Frenchman now has 5 goals in 12 appearances for Liverpool this season.
“David is doing well and he has deserved his starts because you can see that he is working really hard all the time in training.
“When you do that, one thing is always true and that is you will get a chance. When (young players) are working hard, you always have to look to do that.
“If that is what happens, it is then up to the player to perform. So David has done well over the last month and has scored some important goals.
“We are much happier with him but we have some other players who are like that. Lucas is one who is showing great character and commitment every single day.
“The most important thing, though, is that they keep going. They have to keep working hard all the time, otherwise it will be difficult for them to get those chances.”
Well put Rafa.
i would like to see Babel given 6 games at c/fwd (if Torres not in) then we will all know if he can cut it in the Prem League(once and 4 all….
babel was once a good player-once in a lifetime. His sun at liverpool has set let him try elsewhere MAYBE his best is yet to come but definitely not at anfield
as for lucas, even reina would do better in his position.maybe he should some other position like ball boy at anfield.
babel should go,,, how many times are we going to hear rafa doesnt do this, rafa is at fault for that, rafa hasnt done that, bullshite, its high time these pre- madona footballers are happy to pick up great pay checks start proving what and why they are doing at big clubs enjoying the lifestyles and enjoying the stage us fans give them, babel has been given plenty of chance to play and has way of sitting on the ground before even trying to run the injury off or at least standing up was disgusting, gerrard went over to him and dragged him to his feet, i want men playing for liverpool not two bit rap stars who want out when the going gets tuff. can you remenber he wanted a loan deal last year when we where in the middle of them most important leaque tittle race in two decades, what a discrace, total joke, i would have had his contract terminated. its not funny, these are people just like us who go to work, but this guy talks and talks a good game, when are we going to see it more than 5 mins here and 5 mins there. get him out
Same old, same old from some of you peope!! Alonso wanted to go and play for Real Madrid… end of story, nothing would have kept him at Anfield. Lucas, probablyt not as good as Hamman but is an extremely competent holding midfielder in an area where we probably need more creativity when Gerrard is forward; enter Aquilani if he ever gets the change to get his boots dirty!! Ngog for me is not the real deal and it is difficult to ever see him as such, he is lightweight and unlike Torres, Drogba and the like is not prepared to mix it… Looking foward to see if the rumours about Ruud v N are true, now there is someone we can use.
None of you know what you’re talking about! I am the greatest player in the world, but Stevie never puts the ball to me feet with the proper angular spin. Plus me laces are too short! Oh and I’m allergic to grass!
Firstly it’s time to get over all this Xabi Alonso nonsense and move on!.Just like Kuyt was purchased as a forward Babel too is playing out of position!.Rafa often attempts to fit square plug’s in round holes that lacks commonsense but is too stubborn to admit his errors.Neither of the aforementioned especially Kuyt who has no pace will ever make good wingers.
Babel will probably do well at another club if he can learn to stop stumbling around and go on the outside of a defender instead of always trying to beat him inside,defenders must have worked this out by now.It’s so frustrating to see this because the boy has so much as he can run with pace,shoot and even head yet does no justice to his ability.Someone like Arsene Wenger could make this lad into a world beater.
I totally agree with you cheeky, Rafa has done great things at liverpool but his man management skills and his decision at times are very poor. He’s not like Zola or Harry Redknapp who instills believe and confidence in his players by the way they manage, which makes him very unapproachable. Babel is a good player with the potential to become a great one but his chances are limited at Liverpool which could be for a number of reasons. What i do know is that other players may have a bad game one week and there back in the squad the following week, that is not the case with babel, he may even do well one week then his dropped the next. If i was Ryan i would leave Liverpool and try to ignite my career elsewhere because signing for Liverpool as done him no favors, theres no way liverpool will get even half the monies we paid for him which is another pointless move from Rafa… Sad!!
Its about time we showed Babel the door, he aint playing for the shirt so why have him there. Also think these Americans need to dive deep into their pockets in both January and July-they have promissed us the world and got nothing. They say,”Oh Benitez has spent over £200m if its not working its his fault.” Mayb if they had gave him the £200m at one go we would be ok, instead of £20m this window, £15m the next-how can anyone be expected to build a top 4 team on money like that. You need to give him the big sum and say when its done its done so spend wisely, then we still could have had Torres, plus Villia, Silva, Aguero and Lahm. Rather than ‘hot-prospects’ and fringe players bought for a budget- Voronin, Ngog, Lucas, kyrgiakos etc etc etc. Babel out Silva in!
I’m a huge Rafa fan and still am even though things are a bit of a shambles but.. Rafa is trying to mould Babel into a winger when his natural position is a striker and I honestly believe he’d be 10 times better than N’gog who I do not rate at all! N’gog is very slow on the ball, easily pushed off it and is at best an average finisher. Babel is strong extremely quick and has an awesome shot. The fella hasn’t been givin a fair crack for some reason and you can’t blame him for growing impatient. He’s only human and if I was him I’d also be questioning ‘why did Rafa even buy me!?
Stop moaning,ive seen babel play well maybe 5 times in 105 appearances,i would show him the door,maybe he misses his mammy.
isnt it time we cashed in on this guy,, rafa tsnad by his dream to play for the national side, he then comes back injuried , he has given him starts, he has backed him and said to us all we want to keep babel, even babel himself tried to get himself a move half way through last years most important season in a decade, enough is enough we shoould be able to get at the very best 10 mill for him, add that to the dossena money which we could sell him for 4.5 / 5 mill thats around 15 mill coming back to the club, add the fee for that sh**e bag voronin around 2 mill thats 17 mill. why cant rafa be given some funds on top of what he is generating form player sales, if the owners can not 1o / 15 mill to that we are in bad bad trouble,,, just think if they could add around 15 mill plus the 17 mill form sales thats close to getting silva or villa
So far I have backed Rafa but it gets to a point where one begins to wonder!. We have lost one of the best midfielder to Real madrid ” Xabi” when we still have a player like Lucas who has not managed to mold himself into a prominent LFC player, why is he still here!. On the other hand there’s Babel, I believe not every player has the ability to run the whole pitch but is still a very good player, babel falls into that category, he has the instinct of a good finisher and a natural stricker. Put him in his natural position and watch him. Rafa should encourage and put more trust in his players then the real Liverpool will rise.
Sell him!! It does not matter what talent anyone has if their head is not right. Players who want to leave should be shown the door – they are never any good when their heart is not in it!!