Ajax attacker Ryan Babel feels that he still has room for improvement, but admitted that reaching Lionel Messi’s level might be a bridge too far for him.

The 25-year-old returned to his boyhood club this summer after previous spells at Liverpool and Hoffenheim, and he has nothing but good memories of his adventures abroad.

“A footballer mostly has his best years between 25 and 29, so I don’t think I have shown my full potential yet. We can’t all be Lionel Messi, even if we want to,” Babel stated in an interview with Fifa.com.

“I enjoyed my time in Germany, I definitely rate the league as it develops well and you have quite a lot of teams that play good football.

“I also had a great time in England playing for Liverpool. I think it could have been much greater if I was guided better but I have no regrets choosing to play for such a big club. I wish things could have been different but I still have a big connection with the club and the fans.”

Babel has netted twice in four appearances since his return to Ajax this summer.

EXCLUSIVE
By James McManus

Former Liverpool winger John Barnes believes that the club will still finish above Merseyside rivals Everton in the Premier League this term.

Brendan Rodgers’ team have endured a difficult start to the season, picking up just two points from their opening five league games and still in search of their first win.

On the other hand, perennial slow-starters Everton have raced out of the blocks, winning three of their opening five games on their way to third in the table, but Barnes doesn’t believe both sides’ respective starts are indicative of how their seasons will eventually pan out.

“I never think that Everton will finish above Liverpool,” Barnes told Goal.com.

“While they’ve had a great start, every side will go through periods where they’ll go through a dip and just because they’ve had a good start, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to go on and win the league or anything.

“Everton are playing well, though, they’re playing with confidence, they’ve got a good side, they’ve got experience  and players that have played together for a while.

“Pienaar coming back has helped them, but I think Liverpool will still finish above them.”

With regards to what the club can realistically hope to achieve in the league this campaign, Barnes believes that setting their sights on a top eight finish, despite the period of transition, is well within their reach.

“I think top eight is still realistic. They’ve not had the best start but looking at the last few games in terms of performances, they need to be a little bit more clinical in front of goal, but the performances haven’t been that bad.

“They’ve created opportunities up until the final third, but if they can just work on how they do in front of goal, that would help. Given the result against West Brom, that could be one of the turning points in their season so far as they’ve managed to come back from a goal behind with a young side.

“The whole doom and gloom has been based on the fact that, okay with our first XI we’ve not done all that well yet and if we look to other players we’ve got no chance at all.

“But the young players he played last night against West Brom will have shown Brendan Rodgers that he can trust them to play them and it will give them renewed optimism for the future.

“Allied with their last two performances against Sunderland and Manchester United, I expect them to do much better.”

John Barnes is working as a pundit for ESPN, who are screening live Premier League games this season – including Manchester United v Tottenham on Saturday.

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COMMENT
By David Lynch

Ask any Liverpool supporter and they will tell you that the club’s Premier League campaign thus far has comprised a string of impressive performances punctuated by moments of madness.

Daniel Agger’s needless red card against West Brom, Martin Skrtel’s ill-advised backpass to Carlos Tevez and Jonjo Shelvey’s wild lunge on Jonny Evans are just some of the indiscretions which have seen the Reds’ efforts not fully rewarded with deserved points. However, against Norwich on Saturday, the fans will need to see more; Brendan Rodgers must provide evidence that the ‘method’ part of that popular Shakespearean phrase is present in his team.

Make no mistake, the fixture list threw together a nightmare opening run for the 39-year-old upon his appointment, but these have provided useful context for loyal backers during a barren run. With the Canaries, Stoke and Reading on the horizon though, worries about a poor start must be dispelled with the only inarguable currency in football – three points.

Even last season’s edition of this fixture at Carrow Road will provide little leeway for the Northern Irishman as, amidst a calamitous run-in during which the Merseyside outfit picked up just seven points from their final 10 games, the Reds handed out a 3-0 hammering. Luis Suarez, who had been inconceivably wasteful in front of goal all season, netted a hat-trick – with one of his strikes coming from the halfway line – as part of a Liverpool which seemed to have appeared from a parallel universe for just one day.

The performance served as a paradigm of Kenny Dalglish’s vision for the club, one which was ultimately never realised in the league due to a combination of poor mentality and the width of the goal-frame. And Rodgers must show that similar setbacks in the shape of injuries, red cards and individual errors will not serve to define his reign at Anfield.

Of course, the goodwill which has been afforded him by Kopites – a mood best evinced by the chants of “one Brendan Rodgers” even during defeat to Manchester United – is finite. Now, the positive aspects of the Reds’ performances so far must come together and, in spite of the results, Rodgers will know there have been several.

Joe Allen’s seamless introduction to midfield, as best signified by a 10-man Reds dominating the ball against United, is one, whilst Raheem Sterling’s emergence on the flanks is another. Steven Gerrard gave his best performance of the season against Sir Alex Ferguson’s men and Daniel Agger could be in contention to face the Canaries, an eventuality which looked unlikely just days ago.

With key players such as these fit and firing, Liverpool will have few excuses should they fail to edge out Chris Hughton’s side at Carrow Road. No talk of East Anglia being a “tough place to go” will suffice because, quite simply, the Reds have the ability to name a better team on the day.

Whilst confidence can never be derived from defeat to your greatest rivals, the reality of that showing will have sunk in amongst the squad. That just days ago a team packed heavily with youngsters confidently won a fixture which the senior players lost 3-0 on the opening day should also provide some measure of motivation.

One man who was central to that win, two-goal midfielder Nuri Sahin, may no longer be a youngster at the age of 24 but provided perhaps the most interesting quandary of all. The Real Madrid loanee recently insisted he is still short of match fitness following injury but looked so impressive at the Hawthorns that to not select him during Shelvey’s suspension would be criminal.

The Turkey international almost single-handedly dominated the impressive Youssouf Mulumbu, something which Liverpool’s ‘first-choice’ midfield failed to do as a unit back in August. That he also showed a rare willingness to break into the box will surely play on Rodgers’ mind; his is still a team which lacks goals.

And that, perhaps more than curing the mania which has affected his players at choice moments this term, is the biggest task facing the manager. If he can fix that toothlessness with some systemic wizardry then it won’t be just Norwich put to the sword in the coming weeks, but it is a big ask.

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