Javier Mascherano

[Roscoe]

getting a little of the credit he so richly deserves. more irksome than the percieved bias of the media in this country is the complete lack, particularly on the tele, of top class analysis and this is exemplified by the fact that Mascherano so rarely gets the praise he deserves. I think he's truly outstanding.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/...-rafael-benitez

 

Why Mascherano, not Torres, is the real Benítez masterstroke

The Argentine rivals Claude Makelele as the best

 

 

Not often does the person sitting at home see more than the spectator in the stadium, but it happened on Saturday when Liverpool beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. A couple of minutes before the kick-off, while the television camera was lingering on the teams lining up in the tunnel, something happened that gave a fascinating portent of the upset to come.

 

We had just learnt that Alvaro Arbeloa, the Liverpool right-back, had tweaked a hamstring during the warm-up and would not be playing. Rafael Benítez had reconfigured his defence, moving Jamie Carragher from centre-back to fill Arbeloa's position and bringing in Sami Hyypia alongside Martin Skrtel. In the light of the lengthy preparations that would have gone into a fixture of this magnitude – not the match of the season, perhaps, but a very important one to both sides – this represented a serious adjustment.

 

What the roving camera in the Old Trafford tunnel showed was a little huddle at the rear of the Liverpool line. At the centre of a group of defenders Javier Mascherano was delivering an impassioned speech, complete with heated gesticulations. It was the sort of thing one might have expected to see from Steven Gerrard, the team captain, or from the vastly experienced Hyypia, his predecessor. Two hours later, however, Mascherano had given a display confirming my belief that he rivals Claude Makelele as the best exponent in modern British football of an art to which, even now, too little importance is attached.

 

Gerrard and Fernando Torres, who ran the United defence ragged and scored a goal apiece, won the battle of the headlines. But it was Mascherano who carved out the space and time in which they could play, as he had done the previous Tuesday night when Liverpool produced the second of their great performances of the season in routing Real Madrid. The first of those great performances came at Stamford Bridge in October, when Liverpool's midfield squeezed the life out of Chelsea and ended the west London club's run of 86 home league matches without defeat. The third came, of course, on Saturday – when, significantly, United took the field without an equivalent player. Mascherano's excellence was a thread running through all three games.

 

I first saw him in 2004, when he was 20 years old and winning an Olympic gold medal with an Argentina squad including Carlos Tevez and Gabriel Heinze. No one in Britain pays much attention to the Olympic football tournament, for the simple and patently inadequate reason that there are no British representatives. Other nations, however, take it extremely seriously, making it a good opportunity to see young talent on the way up. In Athens, Mascherano, who had made his senior debut for River Plate less than a year earlier, sat in front of the defence and controlled the traffic with a calmness and technical excellence reminiscent of Barcelona's Pep Guardiola.

 

Four years later in Beijing he was doing much the same thing, this time as an over-age player in a squad including Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero. The impression was the same, and so was the result: another gold medal for a man who by this time had moved from River Plate to Corinthians in Brazil and thence to England, first to West Ham – where Alan Pardew saw fit to give him only seven appearances in half a season – before finding a home at Anfield.

 

Most people would probably claim that Torres is the best of Benítez's many expensive acquisitions, and the coltish striker is undoubtedly a wonderfully compelling performer who adds a sense of possibility to any match in which he takes part. But my choice would be Mascherano, a player who rose above a set of tangled transfer dealings and above the inability of his first English club to understand exactly what it is that he adds to a team. Benítez could see what Pardew failed to spot, and spent £18m on a player whose contribution is proving to be priceless.

 

In the absence of Xabi Alonso, his usual partner at the base of midfield, Mascherano's tackles, his interceptions and his distribution laid the solid foundation for Saturday's tumultuous victory. His competitiveness and his footballing intelligence were on full view as he fetched and harried with marvellous humility and unfailing relevance. Nobody writes poems about such players, but they should.

[alli]

i love mascher

[Stevie H]

two admittedly cracking results and suddenly the press is singing rafa's praises from the rooftops.

[Romario]

getting a little of the credit he so richly deserves. more irksome than the percieved bias of the media in this country is the complete lack, particularly on the tele, of top class analysis and this is exemplified by the fact that Mascherano so rarely gets the praise he deserves. I think he's truly outstanding.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/...-rafael-benitez

 

Why Mascherano, not Torres, is the real Benítez masterstroke

The Argentine rivals Claude Makelele as the best

Not often does the person sitting at home see more than the spectator in the stadium, but it happened on Saturday when Liverpool beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. A couple of minutes before the kick-off, while the television camera was lingering on the teams lining up in the tunnel, something happened that gave a fascinating portent of the upset to come.

 

We had just learnt that Alvaro Arbeloa, the Liverpool right-back, had tweaked a hamstring during the warm-up and would not be playing. Rafael Benítez had reconfigured his defence, moving Jamie Carragher from centre-back to fill Arbeloa's position and bringing in Sami Hyypia alongside Martin Skrtel. In the light of the lengthy preparations that would have gone into a fixture of this magnitude – not the match of the season, perhaps, but a very important one to both sides – this represented a serious adjustment.

 

What the roving camera in the Old Trafford tunnel showed was a little huddle at the rear of the Liverpool line. At the centre of a group of defenders Javier Mascherano was delivering an impassioned speech, complete with heated gesticulations. It was the sort of thing one might have expected to see from Steven Gerrard, the team captain, or from the vastly experienced Hyypia, his predecessor. Two hours later, however, Mascherano had given a display confirming my belief that he rivals Claude Makelele as the best exponent in modern British football of an art to which, even now, too little importance is attached.

 

Gerrard and Fernando Torres, who ran the United defence ragged and scored a goal apiece, won the battle of the headlines. But it was Mascherano who carved out the space and time in which they could play, as he had done the previous Tuesday night when Liverpool produced the second of their great performances of the season in routing Real Madrid. The first of those great performances came at Stamford Bridge in October, when Liverpool's midfield squeezed the life out of Chelsea and ended the west London club's run of 86 home league matches without defeat. The third came, of course, on Saturday – when, significantly, United took the field without an equivalent player. Mascherano's excellence was a thread running through all three games.

 

I first saw him in 2004, when he was 20 years old and winning an Olympic gold medal with an Argentina squad including Carlos Tevez and Gabriel Heinze. No one in Britain pays much attention to the Olympic football tournament, for the simple and patently inadequate reason that there are no British representatives. Other nations, however, take it extremely seriously, making it a good opportunity to see young talent on the way up. In Athens, Mascherano, who had made his senior debut for River Plate less than a year earlier, sat in front of the defence and controlled the traffic with a calmness and technical excellence reminiscent of Barcelona's Pep Guardiola.

 

Four years later in Beijing he was doing much the same thing, this time as an over-age player in a squad including Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero. The impression was the same, and so was the result: another gold medal for a man who by this time had moved from River Plate to Corinthians in Brazil and thence to England, first to West Ham – where Alan Pardew saw fit to give him only seven appearances in half a season – before finding a home at Anfield.

 

Most people would probably claim that Torres is the best of Benítez's many expensive acquisitions, and the coltish striker is undoubtedly a wonderfully compelling performer who adds a sense of possibility to any match in which he takes part. But my choice would be Mascherano, a player who rose above a set of tangled transfer dealings and above the inability of his first English club to understand exactly what it is that he adds to a team. Benítez could see what Pardew failed to spot, and spent £18m on a player whose contribution is proving to be priceless.

 

In the absence of Xabi Alonso, his usual partner at the base of midfield, Mascherano's tackles, his interceptions and his distribution laid the solid foundation for Saturday's tumultuous victory. His competitiveness and his footballing intelligence were on full view as he fetched and harried with marvellous humility and unfailing relevance. Nobody writes poems about such players, but they should.

 

Love it

[Flasher]

If Albert Camus were alive, he'd write about him.

 

"After many years during which I saw many things, what I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to football".

 

Mascherano fits this perfectly.

[johngibo YPC]

Alan Pardew

[Duncan Disorderly]

Nobody writes poems about such players, but they should.

Pele once said it best...

 

"When I see beautiful football, I am happy!"

[kick316]

But I thought Michael Carrick was the best defensive midfielder in the world? (well according to Iain Dowie during the game)

[Ste M]

Can't believe he hasn't mentioned our win at Anfield against the Munsters, he and Xabi were brilliant that day, in a game that we played without both Torres and Gerrard.

 

Top stuff nonetheless though.

[Leo No.8]

Mascherano has been back at his best recently which is great to see.

 

He was definitely affected adversely by taking part in the Olympics earlier in the season; he didn't have the same sharpness and bite we grew to know and love in his first half season with us but that has returned in full now.

 

He's just such a likeable player; not only is he world class at what he does, he seems so humble as a person considering he is captain of one of the football world's international superpowers, and plays the game with incredible passion.

 

We have some really exceptional characters in our team, the likes of him, Torres and Xabi; great, great players who don't come with the big time attitude you see from many of their equals at United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

 

Players you can admire both for their ability and the way they approach the game on and off the field.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Leo No.8

[Sion]

Most people would probably claim that Torres is the best of Benítez's many expensive acquisitions,

 

not really made 'many' has he though

5? players more than £10m

[Magic8Ball]

If Albert Camus were alive, he'd write about him.

 

"After many years during which I saw many things, what I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to football".

 

Mascherano fits this perfectly.

reminds me of the monty python sketch of the philosophers playing football

 

[Rory Fitzgerald]

My favourite player in the current squad. Torres and Gerrard are animals but Mascher would run through the same brick wall as those 2 but knowing he wouldnt even a fraction of the credit - thats what I love, the understated work he goes through for the team (understated from the wider media, not his own obviously).

 

 

 

 

Youtube Comp - Kicking the heart out of Madrid's team @ Anfield

[Flasher]

reminds me of the monty python sketch of the philosophers playing football

 

 

Indeed. Long time since i've seen that clip. Ace.

 

For those that like Philosophy, Football and t-shirts, this site is excellent. Some good stuff, including for Torres and Shankly.

 

Philosophy Football Shirts

[DanielS]

But I thought Michael Carrick was the best defensive midfielder in the world? (well according to Iain Dowie during the game)

 

Another one I forgot was even playing. Seemed like it was Vidic and Rooney vs Us. And I only noticed those because one was helping us win and the other one was doing Robbie Keane impressions.

[Swipe]

Another one I forgot was even playing. Seemed like it was Vidic and Rooney vs Us. And I only noticed those because one was helping us win and the other one was doing Robbie Keane impressions.

 

That Redcafe match thread had an alarming amount of posts claiming Park had a terrific game..

 

Hmm...

[surf]

not really made 'many' has he though

5? players more than £10m

 

torres

keane

babel

masch

alonso (just)

 

anyone i'm forgetting?

[fred milne]

torres

keane

babel

masch

alonso (just)

 

anyone i'm forgetting?

I can't remember if Kuyt was more than £10m or just under.

[surf]

kuyt was just under

 

http://lfchistory.net/stats_transfers_by_m...;submit1=Submit

[Falconhoof]

Another one I forgot was even playing. Seemed like it was Vidic and Rooney vs Us. And I only noticed those because one was helping us win and the other one was doing Robbie Keane impressions.

 

I thought Tevez had a good game for them. He deserves a better club from next season.

[Paisley]

I thought Tevez had a good game for them. He deserves a better club from next season.

 

Yep like us.

[FakeNewsBear]

i think we should put a 20 mil bid in he'd be a good buy an slur alex would s*** his keks and negioate for their agreed 32 mil

[Billy Dane]

This praise for Javier is clearly unwarranted. The experts in the media declared Rafa was a fool for spending so much on a player that was only worth £6-7 million, and certainly wasn't in the class of Carrick and Hargreaves.

 

The evidence was there for all to see in the two games against Utd this season.

[allawee]

This praise for Javier is clearly unwarranted. The experts in the media declared Rafa was a fool for spending so much on a player that was only worth £6-7 million, and certainly wasn't in the class of Carrick and Hargreaves.

 

The evidence was there for all to see in the two games against Utd this season.

No, you mean was not good enough to get in the West Ham first XI? And that is repeated by 2 of England's best coaches, Alan Corbishly and Alan Pardox!

 

 

Reina and Mascharno are my favorite 2 players in the current squad, both truly world class and can claim to be the best in the world, yet the media is so ignorant of their talent!