Benitez wants to use Babel as center forward

Jimmy Rice
Liverpoolfc.tv
Wednesday 29 October 2008

Rafa Benitez today praised the contribution of substitute Ryan Babel in Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Chelsea - and revealed we'll be seeing a lot more of the Dutchman in his preferred striking role.

Having already scored the winner from the bench against United this season, Babel was again introduced to great effect at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Brought on as a lone striker for the final 30 minutes, the 21-year-old helped keep Chelsea on the back foot by stretching the defence with power and pace.

Benitez said: "When we signed Albert Riera we thought of Babel being more of a striker.

"Ryan is still a young player. Some Dutch players come to England for only one or two years. In this case, this is his second year and he was injured at the start coming back from the Olympic Games.

"But he is giving us something more and I was really pleased with him the other day at Chelsea. I think that was the perfect game for him.

"At that time we needed pace and power and ability, so we could cope with the two centre-backs. He could beat them, it was perfect and really good for him."

Nine of Babel's 11 Liverpool goals have come as a substitute, with 27 of his 58 appearances arriving from the bench.

Benitez believes the Holland international remains most effective as an impact player for now, but is confident Babel can soon make the progression to producing the same threat over 90 minutes.

"Clearly there is a massive difference when you are talking about a player with pace - normally their stamina levels are not the same," said the Anfield boss.

"To do the same thing 20 times at maximum intensity, it's not easy, so they need time to rest. For these kind of players to play 90 minutes at this pace and high tempo is impossible. That is the reason why he can make a massive difference in 20 to 30 minutes."

Meanwhile, Benitez dismissed the suggestion Liverpool do not have enough experience at being front-runners after the Chelsea victory opened up a three-point cushion at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

"The people in the staff – Sammy Lee, Mauricio Pellegrino – have experience and the players have won the Champions League, which is a massive trophy," said Benitez. "We have some experience of that. I have won the league in Spain, too.

"The first year we came from behind at Valencia, but the second year for a long time we were on top of the table. If we can stay there in three weeks' time we will start feeling pressure. But that is good.

"People said we were like a machine in that second season. We had the balance. We were attacking very well and defending well.

"We lost the last game against Albacete 1-0 when we were champions and by just scoring one goal we would have scored more than Real Madrid, who got something like 71. We also conceded fewer than anyone else. So we had the balance. Being a machine was a compliment."