MARK LAWRENSON: Babel can be a towering presence if given chance

Dec 18 2007

THE month of January is now traditionally a time for change at football clubs – and Rafael Benitez is no exception. But it’s not the transfer window I think the Liverpool manager needs to be concentrating on.

Because it’s time he altered his attacking line-up using the players he’s already got.

Whatever funds he is afforded in the New Year, he must be allowed to bring in an extra centre-back as cover, that’s as painfully obvious now as it was when he was desperate to get Gabriel Heinze in August.

But change for Benitez shouldn’t be about hitting the January sales – panic buying halfway through the season is for the struggling clubs, the ones who usually have new managers that want their own players and need six or seven of them to prepare the troops for a relegation battle.

It’s not what the top clubs do. In fact, I can only think of one occasion when one of the ‘big four’ has actually made a January signing of any impact and that was Henrik Larsson last year for Manchester United. A really good bit of business.

But as Sunday’s game clearly demonstrated, something has got to be done about Liverpool’s failure to threaten the champions.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought they did okay on the day. The difference between the sides in the final analysis was actually miniscule and United never really looked like scoring.

Trouble was, neither did Liverpool and that makes me nervous about the fact that they still have to go to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates. It’s those games Liverpool always struggle in because they never have enough to break the opposition down.

And it’s why Sunday’s game proves that everyone was getting way too carried away at the start of the season with talk of winning the title.

But the solution to the problem isn’t new signings. For me, it’s Ryan Babel. And the way he can be used to help get the best out of Fernando Torres.

I don’t see him as a wide man, I see him playing just behind Torres as a second striker.

He is quick, strong as hell and can get a venomous shot away with hardly any back-lift.

He’s also young, which probably means he needs an arm round the shoulder and told he is going to get a run in the side in what I feel is his favourite position.

But if he gets that, Benitez could then see a new partnership flourish, and that’s something he’s been sorely lacking.

Dirk Kuyt is a good, honest pro but good, honest pros don’t win you games against top four teams on a regular basis.

For all the hard work he does, Kuyt is just not a natural goalscorer and any championship-winning team needs its strikers to fit that bill. And look at what Babel has achieved when he’s come on. His finishing in recent games has been top class and I don’t think it will be long before fans demand to see what he can do in 90 minutes rather than just from the bench.

I’d love to see that because playing as a split-striker is something I can’t see Kuyt, Crouch or Voronin being as successful as behind Torres, whereas the young Dutchman seems to have the attributes to fulfil the role.

And considering the money that was paid for him and the fact that his best has barely been seen yet, Babel could yet turn out to be Benitez’s best buy of this forthcoming window.

Mark Lawrenson was talking to NICK SMITH