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Liverpool have completed the signing of dutch striker Ryan Babel for £11.5 Million on a 5 year deal. The young player has been called 'fantastic' by Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, but it seems that the Liverpool supporters do not know much about the 20 year old.
Babel plays both as a striker and as a left winger. He joined the Ajax youth team in 1998, when he was 12 and he progressed into the senior in 2004. He scored his first goal for the dutch team in november 2004 against De Graafschap in a 5-0 victory.
He is a huge favourite amongst the Ajax supporters and has been dubbed many times as the new Henry. since the beginning of his senior career he has made 73 league appearances with 14 goals. Some Liverpool supporters may find this worrying as they want players who can score more than this in one season but if the comparisons to the former Arsenal great are any thing to go by it should be an issue.
The new signing is only young and when henry left Monaco in 1998 he was only 21 and had only scored 20 goals in 105. While Ajax has a place in his heart eternally, we could see yet another foreign player falling in love with the Liverpool, as Rafa has apparently already made him feel like he belongs.
Babel has said that Benitez is 'like the ideal father-in law'. He claims that Rafa was an important factor in his decision to move to Liverpool and that he has 'good feelings' about his future at the club.
It seems that we have a future Liverpool legend in our new number 19
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LIVERPOOL fielded one team in the first half – then another in the second at Wrexham on Saturday.
The one which really matters, however, didn’t even travel to the Racecourse – and that’s the line-up likely lads such as Besian Idrizaj must force their way into.
The Austrian striker, who ended last season on loan at Luton, did as much as anybody to make a point to his manager.
The youngster celebrated a 23 minute hat-trick, all from outstanding Jermaine Pennant crosses.
But while Pennant’s qualities are already obvious to his manager, Idrizaj has been a slow burner since his move from Linzer ASK two years ago.
“He is a player with great talent,” said Benitez. “But he needs to mature in some aspects.”
Perhaps he meant the 37th minute moment when Idrizaj should have ended the game as a contest.
Boosted by the confidence of a quickfire treble, he collected yet another defence-wrecking pass from Pennant and tried to dribble carefully around exposed goalkeeper Williams.
His effort was too deliberate, however. He was forced wide and even denied strike partner Brouwer an opportunity to score in his eagerness to finish the job, before both were crowded out.
But it would be harsh to highlight that moment, after the solidly built striker had clinically finished his first three openings of the match.
With Pennant picking up where he left off in Athens, Idrizaj opened the scoring after only seven minutes.
Pennant cut the ball back from the byline, Brouwer touched the ball into Idrizaj’s path for his partner to drill a crisp drive into the roof of the net.
With Pennant doing pretty much as he pleased down Liverpool’s right, the Reds created a clutch of goalscoring openings.
Adam Hammill, a midfielder who enjoyed a successful loan spell at Dunfermline last season, hooked a Pennant cross over the bar before Finnan’s long ball gave Pennant the chance to run at the ravaged Wrexham rearguard again.
Pennant clipped in another damaging ball and Idrizaj delivered a deft diving header to double the Reds’ lead.
Even more heartening, however, was the moment a minute later when Pennant appeared deep inside his own penalty area to cleverly tidy up a dangerous Wrexham counter.
Pennant’s attacking qualities are obvious to all, his defensive resolve less so. But on Saturday his attitude was impeccable.
With the game barely a quarter gone Pennant was already celebrating a hat-trick of assists.
This time a quickly taken free-kick gave him the chance to torment Williams once more, cross with purpose and Idrizaj planted a firm header into the top corner.
It was a satisfying moment for the youngster in front of Rafa Benitez.
But he will perhaps also be aware that Craig Bellamy opened his goalscoring account for the club on the same stage last season, while Anthony Le Tallec believed he had made Benitez an offer which couldn’t be ignored with a double in the Reds’ manager’s first match in charge.
He was ignored – spectacularly.
Another buccaneering Pennant run and another excellent cut-back gave Brouwer a sniff of an opening, before the Dutch youngster was crowded out.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s last appearance at left-back saw him trying to quell the fertile feet of Lionel Messi. This time he had a little more freedom to venture forward and clipped a shot against the outside of a post as Liverpool dominated.
At half-time all three senior stars, Pennant, Momo Sissoko and Steve Finnan, were withdrawn from the fray and Liverpool were predictably less dominant.
But there were still some notable cameos.
Jay Spearing, a midfielder Steve Heighway believed was ready for first team football last season, backed up his mentor’s view with a tidy and polished performance.
But other displays were more rusty.
Giant Paraguayan centre-back Ronald Huth made namesake Robert look tidy and mobile, while Danish goalkeeper Martin Hansen appeared on the scene on the hour, and was promptly responsible for Wrexham gaining a toehold back in the match.
His attempted clearance was drilled straight at a grateful Eifion Williams and he rolled the ball back into an empty net.
A minute from time Hansen was involved again, but this time the goal owed more to the quality of Williams’ finish than the goalkeeper’s punch which fell at his feet.
The Wrexham man turned and dispatched a quality volley over the stranded keeper and into the net.
But Benitez and reserve team coach Gary Ablett will have been satisfied by their afternoon’s viewing.
A win, no injuries and a hat-trick for a promising striker – the Reds are up and running.
WREXHAM (1st half): A Williams, Spender, Pejic, S Evans (Hope 30), M Williams, Mark Jones, Llewellyn, Murtagh, Done, Roberts, Carvill.
LIVERPOOL (1st half): Martin, Finnan, Paletta, Hobbs, Arbeloa, Pennant, Sissoko, Peltier, Hammill, Brouwer, Idrizaj.
WREXHAM (2nd half): Mike Jones, Valentine, G Evans, Hope, Taylor, Makin, D Williams, Fleming, E Williams, M Williams, Proctor.
LIVERPOOL (2nd half): Martin (Hansen 59), Darby, Huth, Roque, Threlfall, El Zhar, Flynn, Spearing, Hamill (Nemeth 59), Idrizaj (Simon 59), Lindfield.
Referee: Mike Jones.
Attendance: 11,210.
GOALS: Idrizaj (7) 0-1, Idrizaj (19) 0-2, Idrizaj (23) 0-3, E Williams (67) 1-3, E Williams (89) 2-3.
Red4life
Don’t judge any player until the season has ended and you know then what he has or hasn’t got to offer.
Players can have a great or a poor pre season and be the complete opposite when the real stuff starts.
We all hope Veronin or who ever does the business but reserve judgement until you’ve seen the truth reveal itself during the season.
all the players deserve a chance and must be only judged at the end of the season. ive said all along that veronin is not a bad player, if he plays most games i reckon he will score a few.i bet kuyt is sh…ing himself.
I started loving wathcing footie when dalglish was boss in 1985. So I was lucky enough to live the real glory years of the eighties.I only wish I was around to live the glroius seventies.
I wish they would show the old Match of the day show Which was aired on sundays.you would have loved it, men playing against men no diving around and namby pamby tackles. I had respect for all of the teams that we played against and each win was a win, hard fought and battled for.Thats why I loved football so much.It never stopped and the players gave thier all.
Our Football in 1984-90 was fantastic. All players knew what they were doing and new exactly where the goal was.well almost all of the time.
THen came the changes with Barnes Rush Beardsley Aldridge and the like.
We stopped being the best team in the land and turned into the Harlem Globbetrotters.
It was mesmerising what had been done to the team and you had a team of performers the like of which the premiership has never seen. No European competition to test it in though meant that it went unnoticed in world football.
I do have the feeling that had we competed in Europe then the money would have been a little more to ensure the team had the one or two players to keep going.
After that we had the tearing apart of the team and that will never show instant results infact we are only just starting to recover from it.
So hopefully we will start dominating again and if you really want to see Liverpool at its best try and get the season video which includes the full match of Liverpool v Nottm Forest. You will struggle to see better.
YNWA
i rememer the l,pool v forest game it was superb.and tom finney said after the game ,IT WAS THE BEST PERFORMANCE HE HAD EVER SEEN FROM ANY TEAM.PURE CLASS all so when we beat spurs 9/0 at anfield when they just got villa and ardlles, all the goals were good but the last goal was outstandng.great memories from a great team. i wonder if rafa ever watched thease games on tape.
the one thing all young plyers need is time especially movin to another league.i think he will prosper given the first team appearences nd time to develop but he looks to have the seed whch is always gd.i nd many others jus hope this hype isnt short livd.
As expected, he presented a brilliant display at Crewe… And for sure could have done much more better if he was played alongside another striker…
He deserve the Man of The match..good skills, good pass, unlucky to get his shot stop by the keeper, fortunately we had lots of players in the box ready to bag in
Waiting forward to the Werder Bremen Match…
Once again Voronin is the Man of the match…with an even more brillant display along with two goals this time!!!
While Torres missed two super occasion, Voronin took his chances and put the ball in the net… he runs, he wins ball by great tackles, he dribbles well..and he scores..he’s doing his job…Hope he continues like this and get his place ahead of Dirk kuyt/Peter Crouch…
So the final score is:
Liverpool 3 – Werder Bremen 2
Great match…
im sorry but i dont like babel. maybe if he does well 4 us il begin 2 like him but not at momnt. the reson i dislyk him is cos he is an arrogant dutchman who thinks that he is the best and from watching him in the under21s cup for holland…..(hu did the dirty on england)…babel was more of an individual cock rather than a team player which is not good for me. a squad consists of good team players..not individuals. babel definitely needs to prove himself.
Grow up would ya. You don’t like Babel because he scored a penalty against England (Who hasn’t?). His arrogance as you call it is more like a belief in his ability, which you need to survive at the top. You must have been watching a different U21 tournament to everyone else cos I saw a lad playin’ up front who was more than willing to drop deep and give a dig out and he set up some goals as well as scoring a couple. Babel’s a player with some flair, something that we’ve been lacking for years.
This boy will be a hit he’s only 20 and will adapt perfectly there is’nt much pressure on him and im sure he will only be eased into the team gradually certain he will be good
if you want to have doubts about anybody then it should be torres he has cost twice as much and has it all to prove so babel is just a player for the future which im so glad the gaffa is thinking about we are in safe hands
all new signing are a gamble just have to trust the gaffa’s knowlegde then enjoy the outcome
Looks like a very direct player , very skillfull , asuming he adapts to the Premier (and I see no reason why not ), we could have a real star on our hands
i think most people know he has got lots of abilty,and i agree he is a good buy. so stop the bitching and give the lad a chance.
totaly agree. classy player. the rest of the premiership will be knocking our boys, the least we as reds fans can do is get behind them, not jump on their backs as well. bring on the new season. Y.N.W.A
totally agree lets give the new boys a chance then lets see if they are good enough
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini could be on his way to Liverpool after stating that the Bianconeri have neglected him.
The Italy U-21 captain claims that he is worried about his future in Serie A and is waiting for club officials to clarify their plans.
“No one has called me or tried to contact me,” he revealed. “They have focused on renewing the contracts of the important players and this is logical.
“However, they haven’t considered the players who gave their all to bring the team back to the First Division. I believe I might risk playing only 30 per cent of next year’s matches and I cannot agree to this.
“I have plenty of opportunities, but I only hope someone will call me to explain what the plan is. Unfortunately no one has done this so far.”
Reports in Italy suggest that Liverpool have offered £5m for the defender, although it is understood that the Old Lady value him at £7m.
The Premiership club are focusing on Chilleni after the deal to bring Manchester United left-back Gabriel Heinze – a former Juventus target – to Anfield stalled.
http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jul16j.html
I think what Liverpool really needs is a quality player supporting the midfielders. You can’t have the midfielders getting worried about the team’s defence durib\ng the game. Yes Carragher is a good defender, but u can’t rely on one player for defence. What if he made mistakes? Ipersonnaly think that Agger is not a dependable defender, even though he is good. Signning Giorgio Chiellini will be a good decission.
ANDRIY VORONIN’S impressive introduction to English football against Crewe can’t pass without striking a note of caution.
The last Liverpool forward from the Bundesliga to enjoy what was described at the time as a ‘promising debut’ at Gresty Road was Sean Dundee, whose subsequent comical ineptitude serves as a reminder never to trust what you see during the pre-season.
There was nothing to suggest in an encouraging 45 minutes Voronin deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the notorious South African, and on this afternoon, at least, the Bosman signing from Bayer Leverkusen ticked all the right boxes.
He struck an instant understanding with Steven Gerrard, showed a willingness to throw himself into the kind of tackles usually outlawed in friendlies, and was unlucky not to score in the build up to the Reds’ opening goal.
A striker who appears to prefer to come deep to link with the midfield, there were glimpses of another tireless worker added to the ranks.
With Fernando Torres, Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt presumed the leaders in the clubhouse when Rafa Benitez considers his options, Voronin faces a challenge to be a regular starter.
On this evidence, it’s a fight he won’t shirk, which must have been the most pleasing aspect for the manager on a predictably routine afternoon.
While Voronin caught the eye, primarily because the new players are always going to be most watched in these fixtures, more familiar faces led the way.
In the first half Miki Roque partnered Sami Hyypia at centre-back, with John Arne Riise and Steve Finnan at full-back.
Jay Spearing was handed an opportunity to learn from Gerrard in the middle, with Lee Peltier and Nabil El Zhar on the flanks. Crouch and Voronin started in attack.
Gerrard eased himself back into action as if he’d never had a rest, spraying the ball from the middle of the park with effortless class.
A stunning left footed dipper from 25 yards would have broken the deadlock, only for the crossbar to intervene.
Benitez will remember with horror the start to last season when Liverpool hit the post with more regularity than a Royal Mail strike.
When the game’s other outstanding performer, Riise, struck the woodwork with a delicate left footer, Benitez must have been hoping his side was getting its bad luck out of the system.
Such was the starting XI’s dominance, an opening goal was inevitable.
Peltier, one of many youngsters to acquit themselves well, was on hand to strike home the rebound on 20 minutes after Voronin’s powerful drive was pushed back into the six yard box by Ben Williams. Two minutes later, the lead was doubled.
Riise, who enjoyed and made the most of acres of space on the left, picked out Crouch who glanced a perfectly weighted volley beyond Williams.
A new team started the second period. David Martin deputised for Scott Carson, who had extra time off after the European under-21 Championships, while Jamie Carragher must have wondered if he was back on England duty when he was moved to right back to accommodate Gabriel Paletta alongside Agger.
The quality and pace deteriorated as the game progressed, with only another hero of the youth cup win, Ray Putterill, adding to the tally. A typically direct run ended with him cutting inside before finally working the ball back onto his left foot with a well placed shot.
Putterill and young forward Craig Lindfield were clearly fighting for a place on the Swiss and Asia tours.
Jermaine Pennant showed flashes of skill as he switched flanks, and Xabi Alonso – paired in the middle with Momo Sissoko – had the time and space to show off his masterful passing repertoire.
The game had descended into a training session as full-time approached and Crewe broke up the play with a series of substitutions.
Aside from a couple of nervous clearance from Martin, Liverpool rarely looked in danger of squandering their clear advantage. Benitez and his squad headed to Switzerland yesterday ready to step up their preparations, with the supporters now keen for a glimpse of the rest of the new boys.
Voronin did nothing to suggest he’s anything less than value for money – although that shouldn’t be too difficult given he didn’t cost a penny.
Now it’s up to the multi-million pound recruits who will taste action in Switzerland and Hong Kong to start showing their worth.
Liverpool (first half): Reina; Finnan, Hyypia, Roque, Riise; Peltier, Gerrard, Spearing; El Zhar; Voronin, Crouch.
Liverpool (second half): Martin; Carragher, Paletta, Agger, Arbeloa; Putterill, Sissoko, Alonso, Pennant; Kuyt, Lindfield.
Referee: Scott Mathieson
Red4life
Seems at the minute that it could well be a shrewd move on rafa’s behalf for getting this player . Wasn’t a big name signing but if he keeps this up he could well be a big influence on our title aspirations.
Yes was pretty excited wen i saw his name is the sheets, n twice too!
Red4life
Some of the fellow reds are worried that voronin has scored against weak sides Its not that the side we played against was below average.On the contrary bremen are an ok club in the bundesliga.
What you should be impressed by is the way he scored the goals.Full of confidence ..having the ability to turn their goalie for the first goal, and tricking him with the second…did u see the goals he scored yesterday??They were quality.
Why have pre season friendlies anyway?? Thats the reason my friends..voronin has scored against sides alot better than many that are in the premiership…Munchen are one that comes to mind.
Lets give the lad a bit of time ans see what he has to offer.??AND NO IM NOT WORRIED ABOUT VORONIN AT ALL. THIS LAD WILL SHINE