Dirk Kuyt backs Ryan Babel to be fit for start of Premier League season

Jun 3 2008 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

DIRK KUYT has backed Liverpool and Holland team-mate Ryan Babel to be fit for the start of the season after the injury that wrecked his Euro 2008 dream.

Babel is set to be sidelined for the best part of the next two months as he faces a race to recover from his ankle ligament damage in time for the pre-season friendly programme.

But that issue was clouded for Liverpool yesterday by Holland’s Olympic coach declaring his intention to call Babel up for his under-23 side to compete at Beijing – which clashes with the Barclays Premier League opener on August 9 and could rule him out of the first fortnight of the campaign.

But wherever Babel is playing when he completes his recovery, Kuyt is hopeful the 21-year-old can put his misery behind him ahead of his second season at Anfield.

“All I can say is that I want him to be back as quick as possible,” said Kuyt. “I have left a message on his phone wishing him well, he was clearly very upset about what had happened.

“I just told him how sorry I was that he was missing the European finals and to get himself back as quick as he could.

“And, of course, also at Liverpool. Hopefully he will be fit for the beginning of the season, but we will have to wait and see about that.”

Kuyt, who has performed impressively for Holland in their Euro 20008 warm-up and is in line to take part in their opening group game against Italy in Berne on Monday, recalled the moment when Babel sustained the heart-breaking injury.

He said: “It is a terrible blow for Ryan, and a real shock for all of us.

“The feeling in the camp was that it was quite a bad injury. And it happened without any contact with anyone else, he went down in training as he was running.

“He switched from left to right with the ball and his leg just buckled under him. There was a loud noise.

“We felt at first it might have been broken, everyone heard it.

“It is really sad for him and hopefully he will recover as quick as possible to be back at Liverpool next season from the start.

“He is young, and there will be other tournaments.

“But that is not the way to think, you want to be playing in every big tournament you can during your career.”

Even if Babel’s ankle heals within five weeks he will still be playing catch-up in terms of pre-season preparation and can’t yet commit to being ready for a major international tournament.

Although clubs are powerless to prevent eligible players from joining up with their countries at the Olympics, Liverpool will be wary of the forward being rushed back too soon after what will be three months without competitive action.

Holland’s Olympic coach Foppe de Haan said: “If Ryan is fit, he will be at the top of our list for the Olympics. With his qualities, Ryan is a vital player for our plans.”

Dutch duo Kuyt and Babel were both part of the attacking formation that served Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez so well in the latter stages of last season.

With Kuyt employed on the right and Babel on the left of Fernando Torres, with Steven Gerrard in the hole behind, they hit on a winning formula that took them to the brink of another Champions League final.

And Kuyt feels Babel’s impact will be sorely missed as Holland try to progress from a testing group that also contains France and Romania.

He said: “Ryan has shown how important he was for Liverpool, coming on so often as substitute and scoring really important goals.

“Maybe Holland would have used him in the same way. He did so well during the Champions League for us, it was obvious what he could give to a team.

“Maybe for now he is a ‘shock’ from the bench. But he has improved over the season and now he is very important for Liverpool and Holland.

“Ryan has a great future for himself in the game, people have seen how much he has improved this season and soon he will be playing a key role for his club and country from the start of games.

“Hopefully, he will be back really soon because he is only going to get better and better.”