I think you just proved my point with Henry comparism a bit, Henry was a shite winger but became a deadly striker, where I do fault Babel is that I don't think he has tried his best to play in the wide role. Then again its same as sticking Meireles on the wing, not all players can play well out of position I just feel Babel needs to be closer to the goal. If there's one thing I think he has over Ngog its the hunger to score a goal, maybe Ngog is still coming into his own and when he plays with Torres feels he has to be a foil for him rather than try to get a goal for himself but against Villa you could see he wanted a goal. Babel I think has confidence in his ability as a striker and if he continued playing upfront I think he'd want to do better than Torres and I think that's a good thing he definitely has the qualities to become a top striker.
I also wonder why people compare him to Henry, I think they are very different to me he is more like Eto'o than Henry
Henry became a great forward IMO and spending time playing on the wing IMO helped him as part of his development, n the end he could lead the attack, he could play either wing, he could drop back, he had vision, intelligence, great touch and great passing and he could play anywhere in the front 3 dependent on the front 3 not being fixed in position. Now we obviously feel differently about Babel, but pushing Merieles out right and Babel playing top left or right are completely different propositions IMO and moving Merieles out wide was a shocking decision....However, Babel usually was part of a team of 3, Babel, Kyut and Torres leading with Gerrard behind them....I dont think he was given a specific role to play, similar to what Kyut tries (!) to do on the right, its much more than run and cross the ball from the wing ala a traditional winger IMO, its link play, hold it, pass it, attack, cross,shoot etc a lot more is and was expected from Babel and I think he is struggling to deliver consistency or even showing improved game skills or intelligence...
I think Babel has the natural attributes of Henry and I thought he was following a similar path to Henry in the hope he would became a complete forward, but you got me thinking and maybe he is actually more similar to an Owen in terms of his approach to play. Just to test my thoughts, Owen had a few things in his locker but he was never a complete footballer, Owen had pace, positioning and a sweet finish but passing, link up play etc were not his strengthsr. At the moment, Babel seems to show similar strengths to Owen and after 3 years the worrying thing for me is that he is not developing his game, but now that Roy seems to be turning LFC back into a counter attacking side rather than a possession based side maybe Babel might find himself in a similar role to Owen and could thrive...
As for the Eto point imo hes better than Henry, then again I havent seen Henry play for a few years now but I feel Eto's ball control, work rate, skill, vision, his ability to be direct and also use of the ball, intelligence and general attitude is very impressive, Henry is great dont get me wrong but Eto is better I would like to add this is up there with Cindy Crawford is better looking then Angelina Jolie, both are fit and I would not be showing either of them the door I might add !
As for Babel being closer to Eto, physically he is closer to Henry and the way he approaches games at least in my head and I think Eto is a far cleverer player and part of me thinks maybe keeping things more simple rather than complex works best for Babel and maybe he could or might thrive in a more direct, counter attacking side as you have made me think maybe an Owen type role might be more of a natural fit for him. Maybe the best way to put it, is that looking at how he plays and how he has improved over the last 3 years, im not sure Im helping thinking he could become a Henry type player if he starts to show signs in the future then great but maybe Roys new vision for LFC might help Babel, even if this new vision personally causes me concerns...
