14 - Javier Mascherano

[UberNjufer]

as i said before,he is not a CB.

 

[Theconomist]

Mascherano is a very decent centre back. I don't consider a ball deflecting off his face a mistake.

 

[Henry_IB]

People need to calm down as soon as a mistake happens. Especially when said "mistake" is not his own fault. The ball first took a deflection on Adriano, Masch had no chance to react.

 

[Barcaman]

He's a CB whether we like it or not so mind as well get used to it. And now with Puyol injured (again), Tito will ride him out in every match.
I don't know what he did vs. Getafe to get such bad reviews from some of our members.

 

[Fourteen]

He's a CB whether we like it or not so mind as well get used to it. And now with Puyol injured (again), Tito will ride him out in every match.
I don't know what he did vs. Getafe to get such bad reviews from some of our members.

What Bojan said.

He certainly wasn't at fault for the own goal.

 

[JimmyGuitarist]

what's happening with Masch, 2 big mistakes in the game vs Gatafe ?

Yes. I mean it's as if he knew the shot would rebound off another player, rebound off himself, then score an own goal.

 

[mitkoa7x]

Masch wasnt to blame for the goal, it was down to chance.

 

[estranged]

He wasn't directly to blame for that goal, but his position was just god awful there. Really hope he improves on that, often he gets dragged out of positions too easily (not the case on the Getafe goal)

 

[xaviniesta]

people blaming defenders for own goals and use that for an excuse for being a shit defenders

 

[ZenI]

OK, he makes some mistakes sometimes (but not against Getafe, what have you been smoking?) but so has Pique and every other defender. Show me one defender that is 100% and never makes mistakes and we will sign him even if he cost 100M+. Anyway, being a CB at Barca is risky business - if we don't stop them at the midfield and Alba/Alves are caught high up this will always create problems (even if we got Silva, Hummels or whoever you think is a much better CB than Masch).

 

[Meitux]

OK, he makes some mistakes sometimes (but not against Getafe, what have you been smoking?) but so has Pique and every other defender. Show me one defender that is 100% and never makes mistakes and we will sign him even if he cost 100M+. Anyway, being a CB at Barca is risky business - if we don't stop them at the midfield and Alba/Alves are caught high up this will always create problems (even if we got Silva, Hummels or whoever you think is a much better CB than Masch).

yeah cause simply hummels is 1.92 way taller than the very short mascherano,he can fix our problems of height and can be very usefull to set pieces,also better positionining same goes for t.silva,the very little mistakes are sometimes crusial and mascherano has made some

 

[Isaac_Cuenca23]

Why can't people understand that Mascherano is a top class CB. Sure he's short but so was Cannavaro and that didn't stop him, and he has played most of his career at DM but players often change positions and find that they are better at their new position than their original position, Messi anyone?

Stop basing your judgements on his lack of height and the fact that he was originally/can also play at DM and open your eyes to the fact that he is a top CB.

 

[jiopi]

Some of the conclusions in this thread.

Masch was our best CB last season, he just came back after rugby match from other side of the world, and I don't think he was even prepared to be played. Making conclusions of 30 minutes play, throwing own goals as an excuse is just naive.

 

[Meitux]

Why can't people understand that Mascherano is a top class CB. Sure he's short but so was Cannavaro and that didn't stop him, and he has played most of his career at DM but players often change positions and find that they are better at their new position than their original position, Messi anyone?

Stop basing your judgements on his lack of height and the fact that he was originally/can also play at DM and open your eyes to the fact that he is a top CB.

the height may not was problem for cannavaro but you cant compare a world class defender to a dm who played center back in the last 2 years,and top class CB dont have positioning problems as i said he made some important mistakes, also i dont think he can jump as high as cannavaro may be jumped thats all,and ofcourse i dont care about his own goal i talk in general icon

 

[estranged]

people blaming defenders for own goals and use that for an excuse for being a shit defenders

You can't read can you?

Anyways some of the reactions to the criticism is just mind boggling, Masch is certainly not a world class CB right now, and no one is retarded enough to base that judgement on an own goal which wasn't even his fault. But 90% of the making of a world class CB is knowing when to hold your defensive line and when to come out of your line and man mark, certainly an area Masch could improve a great deal in. When you leave your zone to disposes or press the opponent you have to be resolute (like Puyol) not leave it to chance, unfortunately Mach gets caught in no mans land one too many times for my liking. And this observation is not base don 30 mins of play or a silly own goal which wasn't his fault, but look at some of the goals we conceded, against Chelsea, Milan, Madrid etc. Masch does extremely well in most league games against second rate opposition, but he gets exposed readily against big teams. People need to learn to be objective and not percieve simple criticism as bashing, and this is coming from somebody who loves Masch. Being able to position yourself is something that you can learn/comes with experience so its certainly something he's likely to improve on.