In Marcus Babbel’s first season at Liverpool we won the Treble and he looked awesome. His stamina and his willingness to attack up field along with his defensive abilities and threat from set pieces meant we had signed one of Europe’s best defenders. We’d signed him for free as well, a fantastic piece of business by Gerard Houllier.
There are so many examples of Marcus Babbel’s ability during the 2000/01 season that picking out some of the best is not an easy task. I’ll give it a go though! In no particular order: his performance at Old Trafford during our first win in a decade there. Ryan Giggs is still in his pocket; extra time in the League cup final when everyone was feeling tired Marcus was still tearing up field to keep the pressure on the Brummies; the Derby game at Woodison where he scored a fantastic second Liverpool goal. When the Everton attack broke down Babbel was on the edge f our area, six seconds later he’s on the edge of the opposite box scoring a fantastic goal against the Shite; the 8-0 versus Stoke where he scored his first Liverpool goal; his sixth goal of the season- the opener in the UEFA cup final and his performance afterwards. If it hadn’t been fro McAllister Babbel would have walked away with the man of the match award.
Then the 2001/02 season started and Marcus Babbel was looking a shadow of the player we knew he was. Substituted at half time in the game against Bolton, looking like he was playing in glue against Bayern Munich, something had to be wrong. At first we thought it was just an injury, a knock that would heal with a couple of weeks rest. Then the papers were talking about ME and a couple of months out. Then Marcus was diagnosed with Guillan-Barre Syndrome and all talk of a comeback was forgotten. 10% of sufferer’s die from this disease- never mind seeing Babbel back in the Red shirt, we just wanted to see him alive and well. The photos of Marcus in a wheelchair in a German hospital a couple of months after he was diagnosed with the illness, looking weak and gaunt were a shock to say the least. One of our fittest players didn’t have the energy to walk.
While Marcus was struggling to walk again during this time what did the club do? They offered him a new, improved contract. I criticise this club of ours sometimes for it’s ‘money is God’ attitude but the offering of a new contract to Marcus Babbel at this time was a fantastic gesture and made me so proud of them. It made an impression on Babbel too as he has since said that he wants to end his career at Liverpool.
Babbel has recovered from his illness of course and has now returned to his rightful place in the first team. As Gerard Houllier has said, it’s like having a new signing. I’m a big fan of Jamie Carragher, but as we saw Marcus Babbel going forward every time he got the ball on Sunday, as we saw his pin-point passing and his presence in the box, we realised just how great he is. World class is a term that gets bandied about far too often but in Marcus Babbel’s case it’s well deserved. Who’ll bet against us winning the league now?