Babel is one of those players who seems to feature in people's starting line-ups when he hasn't played for a while. And then people almost seem surprised at how shit he is.
I think I've commented on this before - he has the remarkable ability of convincing people he's brilliant from the sidelines. He just has to sit around feeling sorry for himself, write the occasional tweet about how hard he's trying, and perhaps do a shit rap on a Dutch radio station, and some people are convinced that's he's the answer to all our problems. Then he actually gets an opportunity and people's illusions are shattered all over again. And then the cycle repeats itself. Ad infinitum.
I've also seen people say that they'd hate to see him go to another Premiership club because he'd go there and be brilliant. Allow me to alleviate those concerns: Ryan Babel is an athlete, not a footballer. It doesn't matter which club he's at, he'll continue to be just that. He won't develop into a good player under anyone because the foundations simply aren't there. The potential that people talked about when he arrived has turned out to be a myth. He's making the same mistakes he made when he from day one, and even seems to have developed some more gaping holes in his game. He manages to combine a total lack of intelligence with a shithouse attitude. I mean, Liverpool fans are generally quite forgiving. A shortfall in talent can often be overlooked if we see some real application. But Ryan doesn't even offer that.
We were mad not to accept Birmingham's offer for him, because we're unlikely to see anything close to it again. I gave up on him about three years ago. I would advise everyone else to do the same.
