Kop burst my Babel RYAN’S ANFIELD RAP

RYAN BABEL believes Liverpool never gave him a chance to succeed or made him welcome.

He was often left to look and learn himself at Anfield without the help of managers or coaches.

Now the winger, 32, is back in England after eight years away having joined struggling Fulham and hopes to show the Anfield club “what they missed”.

Babel, his dyed hair Liverpool red, was considered the next Dutch star when he joined the Kop giants from Ajax for £11.5million in 2007.

He had turned down the chance to join today’s opponents Tottenham, thinking instead that Liverpool was the club for him.

Babel admits his attitude, and his controversial use of social media, did not help. He became the first footballer to be censured for comments made on Twitter after posting a mock-up picture of referee Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United shirt in 2011. He was fined £10,000.

His social media output also got him into trouble at UAE club Al-Ain.

He is sad Liverpool fans never got to see the real Babel, who arrived as a Dutch wonder after making his Ajax debut at the age of 17.

It is a sore point that it did not work out and his three years at Liverpool became a two-way street of accusations and counter-accusations. Babel said: “I wasn’t hoping for anything when I joined Liverpool, just to develop well as they promised me, give me the guidance to become a better player.

“That didn’t happen. For different reasons I didn’t fulfil my potential. Those reasons? I was young. Maybe I should have stayed in Holland a bit longer. In Holland I was also living with my parents. So this was the first time I lived abroad and by myself.

“So a lot of things are coming at you at the same time, different country, different culture. You are by yourself and you have to make sure you deal with it. That wasn’t always the case.

“I also never got the guidance at Liverpool from the coaches, that extra work to help me improve. I came from Ajax where they played 4-3-3 and as a winger they didn’t want you to defend too far. “Then you come to the English game and they play 4-4-2. “You have to change your mentality. You are no longer a winger, more left midfielder. “Those are the things I was struggling with, especially the first year.

“I wasn’t really managed properly. I had to find out myself and that is why I wasn’t always playing. The Premier League only saw glimpses of me. I had to find myself again. That is why I went to Hoffenheim.

“The irony is I could adapt to the system Liverpool play now.” Babel hopes to become Fulham’s lucky charm in this Premier League stint though.

At Liverpool, the club never lost when he scored.

He added: “It didn’t work out for me before. I want to show fans what they missed. That is why I have returned. I have unfinished business. “Playing in a struggling side isn’t new to me. I played at Valencia when they were having a poor time and managed to help them win games.

“I remember being called Liverpool’s lucky charm and now perhaps I can do the same with Fulham and be their lucky charm.”