DOMINIC KING- Time to put a stop to all the Ryan babble
21 Nov 2009 - 01:00:00
Dominic King's Liverpool FC Blood Red: Time to put a stop to all the Ryan babble
LOST in translation, part two. Another international weekend has passed with Ryan Babel once again finding a host of curious quotes attributed to him.
Invariably when Liverpool's enigmatic midfielder heads off to represent Holland, stories emerge from the Dutch press about his situation at Anfield and his thoughts on where he sees himself fitting in.
In September, for example, he allegedly claimed Rafa Benitez had made a series of broken promises to him, a statement which, not surprisingly, led the manager to raise his eyebrows and left the player hastily back tracking when he returned to the club.
Now, after Holland's recent friendlies against Italy and Paraguay, Babel has again held court with the scribblers from his native country and you will not be surprised to learn his 'words' are suitably colourful.
'To be a 'supersub' is mentally hard,' Babel is reported to have said. 'It is clear I have enough qualities to be in the starting XI of Liverpool. But when you never get a real chance, it's difficult. The Liverpool fans are happy with me as a substitute, but I didn't get a chance yet as starter.
'I have never played three matches in a row from the start. I'm not the type of player who gives up. Benitez told me he sees me as a starter in the Liverpool XI in the future. At this time I believe him. To be underestimated is my biggest motivation. I will take revenge in different ways.'
Powerful stuff but, at the same time, there is one big problem - while Babel has proven himself to be a good talker, there have only been fleeting glimpses of him being able to back up his rhetoric with decisive action.
There is absolutely no denying that Babel has got talent; when he arrived at Anfield in July 2007, the buzz surrounding his signing was that Benitez had landed a young man to develop into a player with similar capabilities to Thierry Henry.
Fast, skilful, athletic, powerful and possessing a keen eye for goal, Babel has almost everything you would look for in a modern forward; everything, that is, except for one key element - consistency.
