Ryan Babel blames Liverpool for failing to help him

Ryan Babel says he failed to build on what many thought would be a promising career because Liverpool Football Club failed to manage him correctly when he was a youngster.

The 29-year-old winger, who is trying to revive his career in Spain with Deportivo La Coruña, claims he received no help from Rafa Benitez or his coaching staff after arriving at the club in 2007 from Ajax.

Babel said: “I think I was badly coached. Neither the coach nor the technical team gave me good advice.

“I was 20 when I arrived in the Premier League. When you are that age, people have to help you, talk to you. When I arrived, no one helped me. I was alone. It’s difficult for any young player. Not everyone is Messi or Ronaldo.

“Even Ronaldo’s first two years at Manchester were difficult. But Alex Ferguson helped him. He was on top of him, he was able to grow up and now he is one of the best players in the world.

“But had Ferguson not taken care of Ronaldo, he may not be the Ronaldo we know now. People talk about a new player as a fantastic talent, the new Maradona … but before he can become the new Maradona, he needs advice and help. Young players need time to develop.”

Despite the claims, Babel remained at Anfield for more than 3 years.

Babel appears to have held a grudge against Benitez ever since he took to Twitter to criticise his former manager for dropping him for a game against Stoke City in 2010.

Then, when Benitez was confirmed as Real Madrid’s new manager in 2015, Babel took to Twitter again to say: “Benitez on his way to Real? He will make Ronaldo a great defender.”

A female Liverpool fan responded by asking Babel why he was always taking digs at Benitez which resulted in the player being labelled a sexist for the conversation that followed: “At least let your brother or your boyfriend make the comment then we can argue … Not gonna argue with a lil girl, with all the respect,” said Babel.

Babel continues to latch on to his association with Liverpool Football Club despite playing for 5 more clubs since leaving Anfield. Many fans see this as an attempt to remind people that he hasn’t always bombed because playing for Liverpool is obviously a big deal.

He’s admitted to watching our videos at KOPTALK.TV (free) although the KopTalk editor has previously offended him (ED: Ooops!]. He’s not a bad egg in our opinion. He was tipped for greatness but it just didn’t come for whatever reasons. Sadly his frustrations are starting to spill over. We can’t but help think he should forget about the past and move on by showing La Liga that he can still be a good player. He’s got a few years left in him yet and we’d like to see him do well, but we don’t want to see Liverpool’s name muddied in the media.