Babel confident of Euro berth

Ryan Babel does not believe Hoffenheim’s inconsistent Bundesliga form will affect his chances of making the Netherlands’ Euro 2012 squad.

Hoffenheim have won only one of their last nine Bundesliga games, dropping to eighth on the table, but Babel does not think this poor run of form could harm his chances with Bert van Marwijk’s Netherlands set-up.

Babel, 25, returned the international scene in September 2011 after an absence of 10 months, and the forward is confident that he will make the 23-man roster for the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

“I don’t fear that Hoffenheim’s poor results will cost me my place in the Dutch squad,” Babel said.

“That shouldn’t be a problem as long as I deliver the goods, and I have plenty of confidence.”

“Things are not looking very good at the moment at the national side regarding the fitness of some players. A number of players are being plagued by injury.

“I don’t think that the national team coach will experiment and test new players. There’s not enough time for that.”

The former Ajax and Liverpool man went to claim the departure of regulars Vedad Ibisevic and Chinedu Obasi from Hoffenheim is not necessarily a bad thing.

Babel feels the team still have plenty of options up front, and hopes the squad changes will give him more freedom on the pitch.

“We still have plenty of optionsm,” he said.

“The players we have can all play in more than one position. Ibisevic could only play as a centre forward, and that limited the freedom of the other attackers.”

“I now had the freedom to move from the wing to the position of striker, while Roberto Firmino could drift wide.”

Hoffenheim meet Augsburg at home in the Bundesliga on February 4.