Ryan Babel reveals his dropping by Liverpool on Twitter

Posted Saturday, January 16, 2010 by BBC.com

Under-pressure Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez faced a new headache on Friday - how to deal with Ryan Babel revealing on Twitter that he had been dropped.

Ryan Babel reveals his dropping by Liverpool on Twitter Before Benitez had announced his squad to face Stoke, the Dutch Star tweeted his displeasure at being excluded.

"The Boss left me out," Babel told his Twitter feed. "No explanation."

Benitez later retorted: "Everyone has a Twitter. It's impossible to stop people talking. It's not like in the past. It is more than just football."

The Dutch winger's omission was a surprise given Benitez's mounting injury problems with striker Fernando Torres and midfielders Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun all missing over the next few weeks.

After Benitez's media conference, Babel, who has scored three goals in 16 appearances this season, resumed his tweeting to complain about a lack of first-team opportunities.

"What happened after a first good season?" he asked. "Scoring 10 goals, being young talent of the year, and then second and this season don't play at all?"

Babel, who joined Liverpool from Dutch side Ajax in 2007 for £11.5m, came on as a second-half substitute in the midweek FA Cup defeat by Reading but he failed to make an impression as the Reds were beaten 2-1 after extra-time.

That defeat was Liverpool's 10th in 20 games, another turn for the worst for the club with the Reds already out of the Champions League and the Carling Cup and struggling to qualify for Europe's top-tier competition next season.

The FA Cup defeat by Reading prompted many fans and Liverpool legends to call for Benitez's sacking.

Benitez, who signed Argentina winger Maxi Rodriguez from Spanish side Atletico Madrid this week, has ruled out selling Babel in the January transfer window, rejecting an £8m bid from Birmingham for the forward.

However, the player, who insists he has never had a fight with the manager, added: "One day, you will see what I'm capable off (sic), will it be at LFC or somewhere else...I have faith."