Last night Liverpool were about as sharp in front of goal as a blunt kitchen knife - that was until Ryan Babel took off his tracksuit.
It is not the first time this season we have seen a similar story unfold, when a team comes and parks its travelling bus in front of the Liverpool goal, they are bereft of ideas.
Dirk Kuyt, as much as he has good qualities, like running around a lot, is never going to make an opposition defence lose a night's sleep.
Albert Riera's final ball wouldn't look out of place in the Blue Square Premier; Alberto Aquilani looks about as creative as a plank of wood, is that 20 million tag weighing heavy on his skinny shoulders?
Javier Mascherano does what he is good at but Steve Gerrard, the one-man band, looks like a lost sheep without his buddy El Nino; don't even get me started on the potent striker that is David Ngog, so he scored last night, I could have buried that chance.
The problem Liverpool has is they have no one running from deep with the ability to terrorise a defence.
Players such as Aaron Lennon, Matthew Etherington, Craig Bellamy to name a few, have been invaluable to their teams this season and it shows when they don't play - just look at Spurs' recent troubles when trying to execute the knockout punch.
Now I'll agree with many of Babel's critics, that for large parts of his Anfield days, he has spent a lot of time with egg on his face; most recently being embroiled in a rather public Twitter rant.
But this boy has got the weapons in his armoury, which when released, could be unstoppable, match winning.
The thunderbolt in Lyon and the long range effort at Stamford Bridge stick out in my mind.
Also, when England played Holland in a friendly earlier on in the season, he made Glen Johnson look as average as Vedran Corluka.
He has got pace to trouble any defence and a right foot ready to be unleashed like a loaded gun.
And the difference in Liverpool's attacking threat is marked, even if the Dutch flyer's final ball can be hit or miss; at least he is getting himself into threatening positions in the first place.
So why doesn't Mr Adventurous play him?
He doesn't like him? He doesn't think he is good enough? He doesn't see potential? He doesn't regard him as a match winner?
The honest truth is I've got no idea, as Rafael Benitez is about as hard to dissect as an extract from Freud. I'm often left scratching my head.
One thing is for certain though, there is only so long and so far Liverpool can get grinding out 1-0 wins.
So go on Rafa - give Babel a chance - it might pay off.
corluka is an excellent right back. otherwise i back you
ReplyDeleteSorry slush, have to disagree with you there; throwing Babel in to the Liverpool side won't affect their attacking impotency one bit. Babel is first and foremost not a wide player; he might possess some of the attributes that make him look like one - pace being the primary one - but his end product is far too inconsistent for him to deserve to start ahead of Kuyt (whom you vastly under rate) or Benayoun.
ReplyDeleteHe is, or more accurately was, a striker who worked well in the space left vacated by a willing runner up top. As much as you seem to deride Ngog, (unfairly) he has shown glimpses of promise in the Torres role, and considering he is only 20 (which is younger that Babel) can only grow into this role.
Thus the dilemma that Benitez has, if he is to play Babel in his most potent position, is that he would have to drop Stevie Gerrard, which would almost be considered as heresy on the red half of Merseyside.
Liverpool’s problems cannot and will not be solved simply by the introduction of Babel as they’re more deep rooted than that. I’m not going to go into too much detail about what I believe they are but two of the major reasons I feel that Liverpool are stuttering (excusing the obvious lack of a fit Torres) are that they miss the attacking impetus Johnson provides when fit, and that the midfielder they bought to replace Alonso isn’t the same type of player - he’s a box to box midfielder – which is why Rafa persists in playing Lucas, and thus missing out on the incisive passing he to provide to Gerrard et al.
There are a myriad of reasons that I, and many people could offer behind Liverpool not scoring more than two goals in a game since October, but simply speaking, putting Babel in the team isn’t going to solve them.