£11.5m worth of reasons why Rafa Benitez should take a risk

Football
FanCast guest columnist Reg Burton feels that it's
time Babel was given his chance alongside Fernando Torres

When Rafa Benitez came out and suggested that there
was method to his madness in selling Robbie Keane, he pinpointed the fact that
he didn't have to worry about losing a striking reinforcement because he already
had Ngog, Kuyt and Babel to step in or play alongside Fernando Torres. Rafa has
a point, but I ask the question as why he has never tried them before, especially
when Keane was misfiring; could it be he has little faith in them as well?

I'm sure Ngog will become a very good player in time
and we all know that Kuyt is hit and miss when played upfront, however in Ryan
Babel he has a player that has been terribly underused and never really been
given a chance to stake a claim in the Liverpool team, he could be the answer
to our prayers upfront and if only he was given a chance.

I like Ryan Babel and can never quite understand why Rafa uses him as
sparingly as he does. The player has been very vocal this season about his
frustrations and his lack of first team outings and let's be honest he has a
fair point. I find it hard to fathom
Benitez's reasoning that Babel needs to learn to be more tactically aware
before he can be anymore than an impact player. The guy has been educated at
Ajax, at the home of total football, and what he doesn't know about tactics and
positioning isn't worth knowing. In fact given some of the decision's that Rafa
has made of late, you could argue that it's the Spaniard's tactical nous that should
perhaps be called into question.

So why does Rafa not give the player his head, play him in the central role alongside
Fernando and use his pace to unlock these stubborn resolute defences? The
problem we have faced especially in the past few weeks is that teams come and
park the bus (Everton anyone) and we
end up being restricted to long range shots because we have few alternatives in
the final third. We had hoped Keane would be the solution to this problem but
it has proved otherwise and subsequently we look predictable going forward,
easy to contain, and are throwing valuable points as a result. Babel would give
us that outlet and enable us to go direct when we need to and play the ball
over the top to cut open defences.

I appreciate that playing Babel alongside Torres, to many, may well prove a
risk and may not prove the answer to our attacking woes, but surely after weeks
of being shut out by stubborn defences it is worth mixing it up and taking that
chance? Is it not time to throw a little caution to the wind?