[quote author=ibromurph link=topic=34919.msg912343#msg912343 date=1248609827]
I like Ryan Babel.. good pace, good strength, good skill, good shot.. some good tools to be a solid player.. despite what others say, even his touch is good (a bit like Nando's, a bit inconsistent). Also, whilst some criticise his work rate, it's just one typical of any forward playing out wide. But anyhow, from what I see, there's one HUGE problem which seems to be stopping him from establishing himself in our team unit..
The guy has next to no game intelligence, at all. He has simply NO clue where to run when we are going forward, or where to be defending/covering when going back. Benayoun, just had a good break forward there, and he whilst N'gog was darting one way and Voronin trying to make space with a diagonal run going the other way, Ryan was literally jogging forward in a straight line with no clue how to make space. Just typical of a lot of his movement.
(.. and I don't think it's laziness either, as i've seen it too often. The guy just has very little football intelligence, which is usually the reason managers invariably play forwards out wide - to improve their game intelligence before moving them up top).
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I don't think it's a lack of intelligence more like he doesn't have the single minded desire to get in the box rather than handing on the edge of the action in case the ball breaks there.