Babel keen to make Euro 2008 impact

Mike Safe
The Australian
Saturday, May 10 2008

For Ryan Babel, the youngster Marco van Basten once claimed could emulate Thierry Henry, this season has been one long learning curve. But while senior Liverpool colleagues Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch will be watching Euro 2008 on television, Babel will be showcasing his skills at the finals in Austria and Switzerland as a mainstay of the Holland squad.

And having started the campaign as a raw, high-speed flyer who did not complete 90 minutes in a match until March, Babel is ending it being compared to Liverpool legend John Barnes.

Babel, 21, was raised in a tough migrant high-rise estate in Amsterdam.

De Bijlmer is an infamous housing project in Holland, and he says: "I think 'ghetto' is the wrong word for it, but it wasn't a very good neighbourhood in the '90s. There was a lot of crime."

But while many of his peers were slipping into a life of petty and more serious misdemeanours, Babel was getting noticed for his amazing talent.

He progressed through the Ajax ranks, and started benefiting from the guidance of the great Van Basten, reserve team coach at the time but now in charge of the national team.

Babel said: "He taught me a lot of things, the smart little things that a striker should know."

In Holland, the youngster became an instant superstar, scoring on his full international debut and ending last summer with a winners' medal from the European Under-21 Championships.

That form brought him to Liverpool's attention, and an £11.5million fee secured his arrival at Anfield.

But while consistently retaining his place in the full Holland squad, Babel's education really started under Rafael Benitez's watchful eye at Liverpool.

The initial impression was of a headless chicken, all raging pace but no final product. He specialised in losing possession after the fourth tackle, or running into blind alleys.

But slowly Benitez has knocked off those rougher edges, and he has figured prominently in Liverpool's European run while reaching double figures for goals.

Benitez initially used him as an impact player, coming off the bench to murder tiring defenders. Now he is usually on from the start.

Babel said: "Under Rafa's guidance my level of performance has definitely improved since I left Ajax. I feel stronger and am more direct with my actions on the pitch.

"The boss knows what he wants from players and I know what he wants from me. He confirms that all the time. He makes sure that I know my job.

"I have always liked to play from a standing position, with the ball played to my feet when I can then take off on a run.

"But Rafa has already coached more movement into me. I am learning these things all the time, and it is improving my development."

Babel was concerned by the 'impact' tag, and said: "I was realistic. I knew at the beginning of the season that I could not last a full match at this better level in the Premier League.

"It's much quicker. And the manager also knew what I could and couldn't do which is why I have been brought into the side slowly.

"I have heard people say I am an impact player, coming off the bench. But I prefer not to let it worry me, I just prefer to focus on my game as and when I do play.

"It was similar when I first started as a 17-year-old at Ajax. I would come on in the second-halves of matches and I often had that same impact with lots of late goals.

"But like at Liverpool, that was just at the beginning of my career at the club. Soon I was starting matches and I am now pleased to have graduated to something like that situation at Liverpool.

"It was just a matter of time until I started to make an impact from the start of matches.

"In Holland you only have to play to your maximum level in four games. With Ajax, you can play to 70% and still win against the others.

"I've found here, though, that every game is massive. Even against the bottom teams you have to be at your best to win."

Babel can be more than happy with his first season in England, and now he heads for the European finals intent on another chapter in am emerging career that will benefit club and country.