ON an afternoon packed with positives for Liverpool, it was a contribution that could easily have been overlooked.
Few were left in any doubt of the Anfield outfit’s championship credentials as they brought an emphatic end to Chelsea’s 86-game unbeaten home league record with a richly-merited 1-0 triumph.
From the dogged defending of Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger, the mixture of steel and skill of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano in midfield and the incisive probings of Steven Gerrard and Albert Riera, Liverpool possessed the game’s stellar performers.
But it was from the bench that another, less obvious impact was made.
With Robbie Keane having played through the pain barrier in the absence of the injured Fernando Torres, the Irishman was replaced on the hour by Ryan Babel.
Babel has been a frustratingly inconsistent performer since arriving from Ajax for £11.5million last summer, having so far only once played the full 90 minutes in a Premier League match.
The 21-year-old’s most effective performances have come as a substitute, having already this season netted the match-winner against Manchester United.
And Babel again played his part on Sunday by busying the Chelsea back-line and ensuring the game remained stretched, twice coming close to scoring himself.
The continued absence of Torres and concerns over Keane’s fitness mean Babel could be handed his first league start of the campaign when Portsmouth visit Anfield this evening.
And Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez says: “When we signed 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 he could cope with the two centre-backs. He could beat them, it was perfect for him and really good for him.”
Nine of Babel’s 11 goals have come as substitute, with 27 of his 58 appearances coming 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 the full 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,” says the Liverpool manager.
“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 20-30 minutes.”
Benitez has dismissed the suggestion Liverpool could struggle to cope with the unique pressure of leading from the front, and points to the wealth of experience behind the scenes.
“The people in the staff – Sammy Lee, Mauricio Pellegrino – have experience and the players have won the Champions League, which is a massive trophy,” he says. “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.
“That team had the balance. We were attacking. We lost the last game against Albacete 1-0 when we were champions and by just scoring one goal we would have scored more goals than Real Madrid, who scored something like 71 goals, and we conceded less than anyone else. So we had the balance. Being a machine was a compliment.”
Liverpool face a tricky next two games. Both Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur, who Benitez’s side visit at the weekend, have installed new managers in the last few days, with Harry Redknapp moving from Fratton Park to White Hart Lane with Tony Adams his replacement.
“You don’t know if it is good or bad for them because the players want to impress the new manager,” says Benitez. “Always it’s a risk. To change the manager is always very dangerous in terms of the results at the end, but the first two or three weeks you always have more motivation so it’s difficult.”
Of Adams, the Liverpool manager adds: “He was a fantastic player, and he won a lot of trophies with a very good Arsenal team. So everybody knows he has experience on the pitch as a player and now he will need to have more experience as a manager and that is something very different.”
Liverpool will come up against former striker Peter Crouch tonight, who moved back to the South Coast after scoring 42 goals in 134 appearances during three seasons at Anfield.
“Normally when you come back to a club you want to show you are a good player,” says Benitez. “But in this case, I think Crouch is a fantastic lad and we wanted to keep him. But he wanted to play every week.
“So he is playing well and scoring goal so I will be happy to see him and wish him all the best, but not in this game.”
Few were left in any doubt of the Anfield outfit’s championship credentials as they brought an emphatic end to Chelsea’s 86-game unbeaten home league record with a richly-merited 1-0 triumph.
From the dogged defending of Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger, the mixture of steel and skill of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano in midfield and the incisive probings of Steven Gerrard and Albert Riera, Liverpool possessed the game’s stellar performers.
But it was from the bench that another, less obvious impact was made.
With Robbie Keane having played through the pain barrier in the absence of the injured Fernando Torres, the Irishman was replaced on the hour by Ryan Babel.
Babel has been a frustratingly inconsistent performer since arriving from Ajax for £11.5million last summer, having so far only once played the full 90 minutes in a Premier League match.
The 21-year-old’s most effective performances have come as a substitute, having already this season netted the match-winner against Manchester United.
And Babel again played his part on Sunday by busying the Chelsea back-line and ensuring the game remained stretched, twice coming close to scoring himself.
The continued absence of Torres and concerns over Keane’s fitness mean Babel could be handed his first league start of the campaign when Portsmouth visit Anfield this evening.
And Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez says: “When we signed 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 he could cope with the two centre-backs. He could beat them, it was perfect for him and really good for him.”
Nine of Babel’s 11 goals have come as substitute, with 27 of his 58 appearances coming 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 the full 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,” says the Liverpool manager.
“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 20-30 minutes.”
Benitez has dismissed the suggestion Liverpool could struggle to cope with the unique pressure of leading from the front, and points to the wealth of experience behind the scenes.
“The people in the staff – Sammy Lee, Mauricio Pellegrino – have experience and the players have won the Champions League, which is a massive trophy,” he says. “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.
“That team had the balance. We were attacking. We lost the last game against Albacete 1-0 when we were champions and by just scoring one goal we would have scored more goals than Real Madrid, who scored something like 71 goals, and we conceded less than anyone else. So we had the balance. Being a machine was a compliment.”
Liverpool face a tricky next two games. Both Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur, who Benitez’s side visit at the weekend, have installed new managers in the last few days, with Harry Redknapp moving from Fratton Park to White Hart Lane with Tony Adams his replacement.
“You don’t know if it is good or bad for them because the players want to impress the new manager,” says Benitez. “Always it’s a risk. To change the manager is always very dangerous in terms of the results at the end, but the first two or three weeks you always have more motivation so it’s difficult.”
Of Adams, the Liverpool manager adds: “He was a fantastic player, and he won a lot of trophies with a very good Arsenal team. So everybody knows he has experience on the pitch as a player and now he will need to have more experience as a manager and that is something very different.”
Liverpool will come up against former striker Peter Crouch tonight, who moved back to the South Coast after scoring 42 goals in 134 appearances during three seasons at Anfield.
“Normally when you come back to a club you want to show you are a good player,” says Benitez. “But in this case, I think Crouch is a fantastic lad and we wanted to keep him. But he wanted to play every week.
“So he is playing well and scoring goal so I will be happy to see him and wish him all the best, but not in this game.”
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