Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Babel Ready To Repay The Faith Insists Benitez

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez believes Ryan Babel will justify the faith he has shown in him – starting with tomorrow’s friendly against Thailand in Bangkok.

The 22-year-old Dutchman has struggled to live up to his £11.5million price tag since he arrived from Ajax two years ago.

However, Benitez has resisted the temptation to offload the winger and is backing Babel to be a major hit at Anfield next season.

“We have been really impressed with Ryan,” Benitez said.

“He worked hard in the summer and he came back really fit.

“He’s trying to do his best and that’s very positive when you have a player with his talent.

“The first two years in a foreign country are always difficult. Now he has the right mentality and I’m sure he will improve.”

The Reds touched down in Thailand yesterday after a 10-hour flight from Vienna and received a hero’s welcome in the capital Bangkok.

They face Thailand at the Rajamangala Stadium tomorrow (kick-off 2pm UK time) before making the short trip to play Singapore on Sunday.

After a goalless stalemate with St Gallen and a 1-0 defeat to Rapid Vienna, Benitez is looking for a big improvement.

The 28-man squad has been boosted by the return of Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, Albert Riera, Alvaro Arbeloa, Andrea Dossena and Javier Mascherano following their extended summer breaks.

"For us this is a really important stage of the season," Benitez said.

“Everything we do is preparing the players for the first Premier League game. We must spend this time getting them match fit and working on tactics.

“We analysed what happened last year and know what we can improve on. This time is crucial to what we achieve when the season starts.

“We will continue to prepare them well this week and look to play well in the games.

“It was disappointing to lose in Vienna and you can’t be happy when you don’t win but there were lots of positives to take from the game.

“Hopefully we can keep working well and keep working hard over here.”

Benitez refused to be drawn on Alonso’s future – despite a barrage of questions about where the midfielder will be playing next season.

The midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid but he is expected to play some part in tomorrow’s fixture.

“Xabi Alonso is with us and available,” Benitez said. “His future is to enjoy his time here this week with the people in Thailand – enjoy the weather, the game and the journalists. For the next week he will be here.

“We will talk together about tactics, prepare for the game and try to enjoy our football.

“We have a lot of respect for our fans here so we will try to use all the senior players.

“But the Spanish players and Dossena and Mascherano arrived back late because of the Confederations Cup and internationals, so they will probably not play as much as the other players.”

Meanwhile, Benitez is unlikely to be conducting any transfer business while he’s away after insisting he’s happy with the make up of his squad.

“We have already signed Glen Johnson, an England international, who is a very good signing,” he said.

“Also Andriy Voronin has come back after being one of the best players in the German League.”

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