Liverpool fans are still emotional over the departure of long serving star Lucas Leiva.

The Brazilian joined the Merseyside in 2007 from his home country. He used to feature for Gremio before he made his switch when Rafa Benitez convinced him to move.

Of all the additions that year by the Spanish coach, Leiva was the least exciting. Israeli Yossi Benayoun was a creative force, Ryan Babel was a Dutch striker and Fernando Torres was the goal machine from Atletico Madrid.

Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso were the generals in the midfield so Leiva had to fight for a spot in the team from day one. The pressure from the beginning could have overwhelmed him but his resilience and calm is exceptional. He made many mistakes as he tried handling the pressure of expectations and that of his roles. Continue reading →

Cristiano Ronaldo is a player loved by many both in his country home, in Europe and all over the world, due to his style of play and his goal scoring ability.

However, he is always compared side by side in terms of achievement with Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi.

DuskoTosic, Beskitas defender is one who is yet to be impressed by any of the two, especially Ronaldo.Tosic stated that on various occasions, he has faced off with Ronaldo and he was not impressed by his style of play.

The 32-year old also noted that if he to pick members of his team, he would not be inclined to pick either the Portuguese striker or Messi over any of his current Beskitas team mates.

“I would not replace anyone at Besiktas in favour of Messi or Ronaldo,” Tosic told Fanatik, as quoted by Four Four Two.

“I love my team-mates and my team.

“Besides, I played against Ronaldo in the past and he never impressed me. He played like he was not even there,” he added.

For almost a decade, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the Spanish football space, winning a combined nine Ballon d’Or awards between them.

However, Tosic states that he prefers the attacking style and talents of star players such as Anderson Talisca,CenkTosun,Ryan Babel and Vincent Aboubakar.

Ronaldo is yet to make any comments on the criticism from Tosic who has appeared for Serbia in 19 international games with incredible success.

In the history of the game of football, Messi and Ronaldo remain the finest players with outstanding records at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. In the Super Lig, Tosic has also made a name for himself, helping Beskitas to win two consecutive titles.

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Besiktas forward Ryan Babel is disappointed that he was snubbed from the list of invited players for the Netherlands national team.

He says it is “a shame” that his efforts in Turkey continue to be ignored even after a good season.

The 30-year old has obvious talent which is known for but he struggles at consistency. Since moving to Turkey to play for Beskitas, he has been decent. He scored eight goals and helped three in all competitions. He was instrumental as the club won its 15th Turkish Spor Toto Super Lig title.

Beskitas defeated competition from other team to win the league with a game in hand. Their performance sent them straight to the Champions League group stage next season without going through the qualifiers.

Coach Dick Advocaat yet ignored him when he drew up his list of players for the international window. The Dutch side are hoping to play Morocco and Ivory Coast in friendly games. 

“They said my career was finished. A shame the Dutch national team doesn’t want to use my confidence & current form in this crucial time,” the outspoken player shared online.

Babel is in better form that Manchester United flop Memphis Depay and Spurs’ wonder flop Vincent Janssen. The Netherlands failed to qualify for Euro 2016 and they have had a mixed start to the qualification of next year’s World Cup. They lost to France and Bulgaria but are hoping to still qualify for the tournament.

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Turkish football club Besiktas reportedly want to submit a bid for Arsenal star Joel Campbell.

They successful defender their Super Lig title this term. Their closest rival was Basaksehir who ended up four points adrift.

The club wants to reinforce this summer to keep rivals at bay. Several players have been linked with them but they are set for a showdown with local rivals Galatasaray for Campbell. Ryan Babel and Ricardo Quaresma were decent this season. They played in wide positions, churning out assist after assist. They largely helped striker CenkTosun get his 24 goals in all competitions.

Besiktas is planning ahead so they want extra options just in case the wide men fail to deliver anytime. Campbell was away at Sporting Lisbon this term but he is set to return to the Emirates this summer. He barely got chances in Portugal, starting just seven games and scoring three goals. Continue reading →

Dutch giant Ajax are set to make the trip to France for the return leg of the Europa League semi-final clash with Lyon. The odds are now firmly in Ajax’s favour after the 4-1 result in Amsterdam.

While Lyon would be seeking to usurp the guests, Ajax have had the most attempts on goal, with their shots on target more than any side this term.

Ajax have been scoring consistently this season. Of 13 matches, they scored in all but one. They played a goalless draw at Legia Warszawa. With their three goal cushion, if they get any goal in France, then it might be over for Lyon as it would be a mountain to come back from.

Lyon booked their semi-final spot after winning the penalty shootout against Turkish side Besiktas. Talisca had opened scoring for Besiktas before Alex Lacazette equalized. Continue reading →

According to recent reports and rumors, the head coach of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp will be given a budget of around £100 million in order for the German manager to prepare for the upcoming summer transfer window which is scheduled to open on July 1^st.

This summer budget is likely to be increased even further taking into consideration all of the players that are expected to leave Anfield at the end of the season.

The list of players that might be seeing their way out of Liverpool within the upcoming few months includes the likes of: Mamadou Sakho, Daniel Sturridge, Lazar Markovic, Lucas Leiva, Alberto Moreno and Kevin Stewart.

All of those previously mentioned players have either developed an unhealthy relationship with Jurgen Klopp or have not been getting any significant amount of playing time with the 1^st team and this is why they are being rumored on being offloaded in the near future. Continue reading →

Ryan Babel said that Liverpool has progressed under Jurgen Klopp and he believes that the club should be ready to challenge for the title next season.

He said that Jurgen Klopp has achieved a great job at Liverpool and that he has given fans back trust in their team.

Ryan Babel stated that it had been a long time since Liverpool has been the Champions of England and he believes that Jurgen Klopp is the best manager to achieve this.

He said that there is a sense of belief around the team that they can beat the best team and he believes that this mentality will improve as they continue to win games. He is confident that Klopp will bring in some new players during the transfer window and that will further improve the team. Continue reading →

Former Liverpool winger Ryan Babel says that he is very much looking forward to coming up against Wesley Sneijder and Nigel de Jong.

The two Dutch players are playing in the Turkish super league, where Babel has recently secured a move. After being on the move for the last couple of years, the 30-year-old appeared to have secured a permanent home in the form of Deportivo La Coruna. He had moved to the Spanish club in the summer of a free transfer. However, he appears to have had a change of mind after the entry of Besiktas into the picture.

His recent form in the first six months in the Spanish La Liga convinced Besiktas to hand the player a contract until 2019. Since he has come to the club on a free transfer, Besiktas will not be taking much of a risk when it comes to Babel. In the past, a number of clubs have been left disappointed by the Dutchman. He has played for the likes of Ajax,Al-Ain, TSG Hoffenheim, and Kasimpasa. Continue reading →

Ryan Babel has recently completed his move to Besiktas as he penned a 2 and a half year long contract with the Turkish club.

The 30 year old player will be earning €2.1 million each year for the upcoming 2 years which is a huge amount of money for a player that has struggled trying stay in a club for more than 2 seasons as Babel is usually either fired due to disciplinary issues or he simply fails to get consistent playing time.

Besiktas confirmed their signing of Ryan Babel with a statement on their website which reads:

‘’Babel, who has 42 caps for the Netherlands, will receive 1.2 million euros for the rest of this season and 2.1 million euros per year for the next two campaigns. Babel has won two Dutch titles during two separate spells with Ajax, and also played for Liverpool, Hoffenheim and Al Ain. He was part of the Dutch side that reached the 2010 World Cup final’’ Continue reading →

Former Liverpool striker Ryan Babel has scored an amazing solo effort for new club Besiktas.

The former Dutch international agreed to a move to Turkey on a two and a half year deal on New Year’s Eve. The 30-year old player was reported would earn about £1million for his effort for the rest of the season before the figures rises to £1.8 million in annual wages for the next two years.

Babel started the current season in Spain, playing for Deportivo La Coruna after he moved to the club on free transfer. He decided to return to Turkey – a country he spent two years playing for Kasimpasa before he exited the outfit in 2015.

Babel is known for his off the field antics when he featured for Liverpool from 2007 to 2011. The highly talented player did not live up to his projected potential from his days at Hoffenheim and Dutch giant Ajax before his move to Merseyside. Continue reading →