Two New Signings To Signal The Intent?
Well, we all took it for granted that any Israelis know the way, isn't it?
Whatever it is, the biblical story of Liverpool is building and that it began to unfolds itself as time goes by. We got Fernando Torres earlier last week and his name means 'Tower' in Spanish.
Then we're on the verge of signing Dutch international winger/striker, Ryan Babel, from Ajax.
Put them together, you'll get Tower of Babel. Now that's really weird.
Joking aside, Liverpool have made the step to fill the gap that was left empty by the recently departed Luis Garcia and Djibril Cisse by signing Yossi Benayoun from West Ham and also Ryan Babel, who has always been linked with Arsenal since last summer.
While Yossi's transfer is a done deal and has already signed for the club, Babel's transfer is still yet to reach full agreement and it'll probably be delayed over the weekends. But rumour has it that he has already completed his medical at Anfield and the only thing left is the fee agreement between the clubs.
Well, this picture was taken down from TIA forums and it probably tells you Babel himself has been down to Anfield and there wouldn't be much problem seeing him in the red jersey next season.
I'm never a fan of the new age 'Youtube scouting' system which totally takes away the whole point of scouting, seeing the flaws of a player. So I won't be posting any videos about how he scored a goal from halfway line or turned 5 defenders before scoring from acute angle.
All I can tell is from what I saw on the pitch though honestly, I have never seen Babel played in real life before.
But I think we've all seen Benayoun and will have to agree that he's one handful of a player to be up against and he'll most likely fill up the gap Luis Garcia left, the wing and also the 'hole' position.
We've been linked with him last summer but due to the lack of resources, we let him go. But this summer, we can no longer let players off our hook and with Hicks & Gilett's backing, we're able to grab this chance.
The best of Benayoun was seen in the FA Cup final last season when he tore our defence to shreds with his passing and movement. He scores some wonderful goals for West Ham in his 2 seasons there and he has the creativity to set up others as well.
But as West Ham's season went pear shaped last term, he was subsequently dropped and also had a mini slump in form. Perhaps a good time to move on and also up a level, it'll be a challenge for the Israeli captain.
Ryan Babel, meanwhile, is a quick, strong and versatile player who became the youngest scorer for Holland at international level. He's probably a left footed player but also has a strong right foot and his playing traits are almost identical to Henry's 'drift left, cut centre' move.
He's brought in to give Benitez more 'possibilities' down the flank as well as up front and the lad, who's only 20, is built well enough for the 'harsh' conditions of the Premiership.
One thing that caught my eye was a piece of article talking about his weaknesses, which was obvious throughout the recently concluded U20 Championship, which Holland won. He needs a lot of space and therefore, he's only effective when the opposition defence doesn't play a high line in defence.
That struck me, because Liverpool have a practice of pushing opposition defence back against the wall and then that is when our weakness are. We don't have people playing the spaces left in between defence and midfield. I feel that Babel's strength could very well compliment Liverpool's major weakness.
Anyhow, both signings will yet again come under scrutiny as they are certainly the world beaters many fans were expecting but I believe both of them will give the squad a boost in terms of depth and also a little on quality up front, in the final third.
Benayoun has proven himself that he can excel in the Premiership and though Garcia's boot is a big one to fill, I personally thinks he could do well for us.
Babel, meanwhile, is a one for the future yet we cannot rule him out of the first team at all. He's probably the player Benitez wants to nurture perhaps into the next Henry, as Marco van Basten mentioned, and then turn him into a world class player himself.
This is probably the first time we've been so active in the transfer market and all the anxiety we had earlier on are all thrown out the window. Even after concluding the two signings, Mr. Hicks suggested we're to make one more signing and that the ending still hasn't end here.
Exciting times ahead, aye!
Then as the first team players report back to duty after a lengthy break, the new faces will meet up with the 'old birds' and will have to work collectively as a team and gel together as soon as possible.
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