Babel: Benitez banned training

Published Nov. 25, 2010 7:15 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Holland international has failed to establish himself at Anfield following his £11.5million switch from Ajax in the summer of 2007. Babel was used sparingly during Benitez's reign and it has been a similar situation this term under new boss Roy Hodgson, with strong suggestions he could be heading to the exit door in the January transfer window. But the 24-year-old feels that some of his difficulties can be put down to the fact that he struggled to stay in peak condition during the reign of the Spaniard. Writing on his Twitter feed, Babel said: "I wasn't allowed to train extra under our former manager, even when I wasn't involved. "I begged lots of times, but it was simply not allowed. "And during the season you don't train very hard because you have lots of games, so most of the sessions we had were done without sweating. "But if I wanted to do some extra work, which I asked for every single day, I didn't have the permission."