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It would seem that Rafa Benitez isn’t the only manager with Liverpool connections under increasing pressure, as former Anfield right-back Markus Babbel is also coming under fire for his side's lacklustre performances. Aboutaball looks at some similarities between the old-hand at Liverpool and the relative newcomer in Stuttgart. The former Liverpool defender must have thought the managerial game was a complete doddle after his first outstanding season at VfB Stuttgart. After leaving Merseyside in 2004 after four seasons with Liverpool, a further three-year spell as a player with Stuttgart brought him to the attention of the club when they were looking for a replacement for the recently dispensed with Armin Veh. Babbel had remained at VfB as an assistant after ending his playing career in 2007 after helping Stuttgart to a late surge and a famous Bundesliga title, so seemed like the obvious candidate to take over as Stuttgart posted the worst ever defence of a Bundesliga title in the opening ten games of the 2007/08 season. His arrival as full-time manager prompted an immediate turn-around in fortunes and saw Stuttgart surge up the table from the relegation zone to an impressive third place qualifying themselves for the Champions League play-offs. However, this season has seen Stuttgart return to the bad ways of last season and their 4-0 defeat away to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday left them in a precarious position, with the threat of dismissal closer than ever. The defeat to the league-leaders was Stuttgart’s seventh game in a row without a win, and now equals their worst ever start to a season since 1973/74. A crumb of comfort? With the Board of Directors at Stuttgart giving Babbel the dreaded vote of confidence today, the match against fellow strugglers VfL Bochum at the weekend assumes massive importance in his fledgling managerial career. Still at least Babbel can take some solace that he isn’t in the increasingly hot seat that is the Anfield managerial position, and that even a vastly experienced campaigner such as Rafa Benitez can go through the same agonies he is going through barely a year into the job. Both sides finished third last season, and there was plenty of optimism that the pair could challenge for outright honours in their respective leagues. However, sluggish starts in the very first matches of the season set the tone for what would be a lacklustre opening to their campaigns. Whilst Liverpool went down 2-1 at Spurs, Stuttgart were beaten by Wolfsburg with new man Armin Veh, the former Stuttgart boss, at the helm, just to rub more salt into the wounds. Europe has brought little succour for either; Liverpool to their immense disappointment are now out of the running in the Champions League, whilst Stuttgart languish in third place in their group and facing a decider against Romanian side Unirea next week. However, given the level of performance within the Stuttgart group at the moment one has to wonder what damage a potentially heavy defeat against a European heavyweight next February will do to a team low on confidence, even if they do scramble through. Transfer questions But it isn’t just statistics that bear some comparison. Both have come under scrutiny for their transfer dealings over the summers. Many fans of the Reds have questioned whether shelling out the better part of £20 million on Alberto Acquilani, a player that has barely kicked a ball in anger in his new colours, was really the best way to spend what transpired to be nearly the entire transfer budget. Markus Babel too has shown some inexperience in the transfer market after he was forced into looking for a replacement for last season’s top scorer Mario Gomez, who agreed a £30 million move to Bayern Munich. Stuttgart opted for Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, but the Russian goal-machine has misfired badly as Stuttgart have attempted to crowbar him into the same role that Gomez occupied. Babbel also spent another £7.5 on Zdravko Kuzmanovic, so ploughed nearly 80% of the yield from Gomez’s move back into the squad, so can’t complain that he hasn’t been backed by his board. A question of character There are also comparisons to be made with the characters of both Babbel and Benitez. Both come across as the quiet brooding types, seldom capable of angry rants at their disaffected players. Both managers at the moment look like they are being let down, but seem by and large unable to bring about the change in mentality required to significantly enhance performances. Babbel has also been badly hampered by the fact that he needs to gain certain qualifications to allow him to even be a manager in Germany’s top flight. Last season he was given special dispensation by the German FA to take over on the condition that he did the course this season. Being away from the players for nearly the entire week means he has far less time with them than he would like on the training pitch. Benitez too seems to have been adversely affected by circumstances outside of his control with the boardrooms machinations that have been in progress for far too long at Liverpool. It’s almost impossible to say who will last the longest at their respective clubs, but maybe one day Babbel might be a possible candidate to return to Anfield as manager. Posted by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 2nd December 2009 (Average rating 4 from 2 votes. Vote) (0 Comments) |