Liverpool FC Forum

Posted: **Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:09 pm**

Classy, looks very good to me and maybe a superb signing.

Posted: **Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:22 pm**

Fo Dne wrote:Classy, looks very good to me and maybe a superb signing.

I agree Stu. The big thing is he keeps the ball, unlike certain others in our side who give it away left right and centre. In 1 and a bit games I've hardly seen him give it away yet.

He creates as well. Two great crosses into the box tonight, and one fantastic diagonal ball which showed great vision.

Posted: **Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:25 pm**

He looks very good - you just know he's a decent player.

Just what we needed for the left - balances the team no end.

Posted: **Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:28 pm**

Looks just the type of player we`ve been missing, and for the money you cant complain.
Good signing.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:34 am**

Bad Bob wrote:
Owzat wrote:I wouldn't read too much into a debut, his debut for Citeh went well didn't it and he isn't there anymore............... Plenty of players have started well and turned out to be pants, and vice versa. He looked promising, then again that isn't difficult in comparison to his predecessors on the left.

I'm a bit worried people want to stick Babel on the right, although I can understand that being obvious to anyone who hates Kuyt as a way of getting him out of the XI I still prefer Babel as a sub, he seems most effective in that role.

Babel Goals For Liverpool

1 vs Derby (45)
2 vs Besiktas (79, 81) - 63rd minute sub
1 vs Newcastle (66) - 58th minute sub
1 vs Bolton (86) - 67th minute sub
1 vs Marseille (90) - 77th minute sub
1 vs Luton (45)
1 vs Bolton (60)
1 vs Arsenal (90) - 78th minute sub
1 vs Chelsea (117) - 99th minute sub
1 vs Man Utd (77) - 71st minute sub

Supersub.

Those stats pretty much confirm my gut feeling...he excels off the bench but can still be a rather frustrating character when starting out wide. That said, he's the kind of lad that can do damage to limited teams with lead-footed fullbacks so I'm sure he'll get his fair share of starts. As a starter against a top side, though? He's not ready, IMO.

(Sorry to keep talking about Babel in the Riera thread...just finishing a thought.)

No harm talking about Babel in a Riera thread, it was he who kept Riera out of the starting XI. Babel got us the penalty that put us in the lead, other than that I think those rating his performance are being a bit over generous as we spent most of the time defending and he didn't do his share (bar one saving tackle I can recall, put out for a corner) or help retain possession. Better as a sub IMO, not sure he'll ever be picked as a forward since he CAN play down the flanks and Rafa has a fetish for finding roles for players rather than playing them in position!

But Riera came on, worked hard and eased the pressure on the defence. One and a bit good games, let's hope he keeps it up and one of Rafa's 'mid range' priced buys pays off and proves to be a bargain rather than another £6m+ gambled.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:29 am**

faldo wrote:i'm glad rafa is finding somebody to match ronaldo. he must have seen the 40 plus goals he scored and thought we need a guy who can do that. he had a look around and thought....Albert riera.

the great thing about Albert riera is he is just a young kid in his teens just like ronaldo was when he 1st came to england,which is why we have not heard much about him before. if he was past his mid 20's and not made a name for himself,then i would be worried about his level. we need a winger who scores 15 plus league goals a season like pires and lungberg,so i'm assuming he must have a great scoring record for rafa to be interested in him.

ok i am being silly..yes i know he is 26....and yes i know he only scored 4 goals last season and 4 goals the season before that,thus meaning he will score......4 goals this season. but the good news is he's getting better, because he used to score..2 goals a season....yes folks we have the new ronaldo, i'm surprised real are not after him.

This thread some weeks ago is better than the jokes thread

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:37 am**

That move he made last night to set babel up was brilliant, Im impressed with this lad, even tho i wasnt to keen when he arrived.

Its early days yet but I have a feeling hes going to be great for us.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:40 am**

Rush Job wrote:Looks just the type of player we`ve been missing, and for the money you cant complain.
Good signing.

Decent player with good touches and came at a good price . Poor man's Quaresma though, but has brought us width that we have been crying for.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:57 pm**

club_Levis wrote:Poor man's Quaresma though

Jesus Christ. Are some people never happy?

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:00 pm**

stmichael wrote:
club_Levis wrote:Poor man's Quaresma though

Jesus Christ. Are some people never happy?

it would appear not. He played 70(??) brilliant minutes on saturday, 20 (??) mins last night in which had Babel of scored would of counted as an assit, but still people find something to moan about

:upside:

he has quick feet, a good first touch and can run.

All in all he looks like a good Liverpool player.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:49 pm**

He looks great so far. Just glad we finally have someone with more flair than just a soldier type guy. We finally have width and if we can sort out the right side in Jan, we will then have a very balance team that can do some serious damage. By the way, is Pennant going to play another game for us? I suspect he might only play in the Carling cup.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:56 pm**

see the pennant thread, apparently hes playing reserves tonight, people are well on top of there games with this speed of knowledge, im quite impessed.

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:02 pm**

club_Levis wrote:
Rush Job wrote:Looks just the type of player we`ve been missing, and for the money you cant complain.
Good signing.

Decent player with good touches and came at a good price . Poor man's Quaresma though, but has brought us width that we have been crying for.

You mean the on trick pony who was a failure at barcelona and an absolute bottler against us that quaresma? No thanks , we'll see how he does in a big club at inter whether he can justify that "20" million or so paid for him

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:39 pm**

what really impressses me about reira is he very rarely gives possession away, he always finds a liverpool shirt either after a bit of a run and beating his marker or playing a simple ball to a teamate in a good position. looks like a great buy to me!

Posted: **Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:49 pm**

Sabre wrote:
faldo wrote:i'm glad rafa is finding somebody to match ronaldo. he must have seen the 40 plus goals he scored and thought we need a guy who can do that. he had a look around and thought....Albert riera.

the great thing about Albert riera is he is just a young kid in his teens just like ronaldo was when he 1st came to england,which is why we have not heard much about him before. if he was past his mid 20's and not made a name for himself,then i would be worried about his level. we need a winger who scores 15 plus league goals a season like pires and lungberg,so i'm assuming he must have a great scoring record for rafa to be interested in him.

ok i am being silly..yes i know he is 26....and yes i know he only scored 4 goals last season and 4 goals the season before that,thus meaning he will score......4 goals this season. but the good news is he's getting better, because he used to score..2 goals a season....yes folks we have the new ronaldo, i'm surprised real are not after him.

This thread some weeks ago is better than the jokes thread

I don;t think that we would have scored that own goal if Riera wasn't in the position that he was in, so I guess he just needs something like 3.75 or 3.5 more goals.

Liverpool FC Forum

Albert riera - deal agreed with espanyol