by bigmick » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:07 pm
No I think I'm with Sabre on this one. Once Torres comes back and the attack gets back some pace and sparkle, then the need for Babel up there is negated somewhat. I do think he would have been well worth a go while Torres has been injured, particularly given the somewhat vexing decision to not play Crouch (which is hopefully now consigned to the "not very good ideas" bin). Though he would no doubt have conceded possession cheaply on occasions, and I have a hunch he may come down with "offsideitis" against well drilled defenses, we could certainly have used somebody who could beat me over a hundred yards during these last few weeks.
The one combo which quite plainly doesn't work as far as I'm concerned is the Kuyt/Voronin axis. Hopefully though we won't have to endure that one again, and now until Torres returns we will see Crouch with one of the other two. Fortunately, once the Spaniard comes back into the team he is good enough to make whoever is charged with the task of being his partner look quite good.
Purely as a guess, Torres and Babel while having things going for it as a partnership (with extreme pace being the most obvious attribute in its favour) wouldn't be a goer for me at this stage. Given their nature to play on the shoulder all of the time, they may be a bit samey, and we might find ourselves conceding possession cheaply and early too often as people try and "hollywood" them in from distance. There's also much in the theory behind having one striker who you would rather defend high against, and one you'd rather not leave space in behind to.
As I always say it's all about balance, and if everyone was fit I would have thought that on current form/ability, Torres and Crouch would provide just about the best option. As we're talking Rafa here you might as well get into the Babel plus Kuyt/Voronin being your second choice/rotational option.
Last edited by
bigmick on Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"se e in una bottigla ed e bianco, e latte".