14 - Javier Mascherano

[Flavia]

Do we have any use for him anymore? Surely this summer a new CB will be bought and possibly a la masia cb will be given more time next year. basically we won't need him as a cb and after paying 19 million for song I assume he is busquets primary placement at CDM. The days of mascherano playing CDM seem to be long gone. I wonder if we even needed song? What was so wrong with Masch at CDM? Doesn't he play there for Argentina? Having said that I do like song so perhaps buying him was a good move and we can make back some of the money on mascherano.

There was no need for Song, we needed a cb. Tito thought Song could fill for dm and cb, but I think now Tito and co have realized that he can't, and a cb is probably going to be signed. The problem will be who's going to stay, Masch or Song.

 

[abual3bed1]

There was no need for Song, we needed a cb. Tito thought Song could fill for dm and cb, but I think now Tito and co have realized that he can't, and a cb is probably going to be signed. The problem will be who's going to stay, Masch or Song.

With all the love I have for Mascherano, If I had to choose I would pick Song over him for the DM spot in Barcelona. Song is a better passer, younger, provides more physical strength and will become more handy than Masch who's a classic DM with the excellent tackles, good pace and stamina. But I think that wouldn't work for us anymore.

 

[hellsangel1]

Well Masch was a better DM than Song before he came to us so unless his skills have degenerated over time, I don't think I can say definitely that I would take Song over Masch in that position. In terms of skill, I don't think Song is that much better, I kind of remember Masch actually being pretty decent for Liverpool in his time there. Anyways, the backup DM spot isn't really a big concern for us anyways.

 

[Deco 20]

Mascherano was horrible when he played pivote for us. He just wasn't suited to a role that's so dependent on positional skill, anticipation and a calm head.

 

[Deco 20]

Also, I don't really mind Mascherano as a cb. He's good enough for a third option. The problem arises when he plays more than Puyol... so might need to get another first choice cb soon.

 

[hellsangel1]

Mascherano was horrible when he played pivote for us. He just wasn't suited to a role that's so dependent on positional skill, anticipation and a calm head.

I agree that he was bad for us and he would usually slow the game down but under Tito we're trying be a little more direct rather than the slower tiki-taka play under Pep. So I don't know , maybe this might suit Masch's playing style more. Look at how clueless Cesc was under Pep but now he seems more integrated into the side and although he is a lot more error-prone than our other midfielders ,he doesn't stand out like a sore thumb as he did in the past.

I don't think Masch can be much worse than Song at DM to be honest. Most of Song's distribution is either sideways or backwards.

 

[hellsangel1]

Also, I don't really mind Mascherano as a cb. He's good enough for a third option. The problem arises when he plays more than Puyol... so might need to get another first choice cb soon.

To me it's just extremely risky having Masch as a CB anymore. You can clearly see now how the other forwards don't respect him in the way they attack him because they know they can get Masch to commit a bad tackle or an error. He's become a real liability at that position now.

 

[Kerrybai]

One or the other should go to bring in money fit this summers transfers. I'm liking song at the moment.

 

[Indignado]

There is no reason in the world why would tito bench the better player and play the worse one

Why does Alexis play all the time then?

 

[Kerrybai]

Why does Alexis play all the time then?

Tito may be looking at the bigger picture, i.e the our 12 point cushion in la liga and progression in the CL and cup. Sanchez may be playing badly but we are still getting results. I'd like to see Sanchez benched more too but It could be a case of Tito not wanting to disturb our current winning formula.

 

[Stric]

"Third option" doesn't sound bad if you ignore that the third option actually means rotating with both of our starting CB's. And when one of them is pushing 35, that means a whole lot of playing time. In this case, that's much worse. We have three real CB's in our entire squad, one of which never plays. So basically the only CB's we have are Pique and Puyol. We need another genuine CB to rotate with the two of them. Having Masche as a backup to that would be better than what's happening now, but there's no point in that, really. We should sell Mascherano, keep Song as the backup DM and get a real CB.

 

[Garrus]

This is all mascherano's fault.

 

[King Leo]

This is all mascherano's fault.

Say what??

 

[Garrus]

I'm being sarcastic.

 

[barcanuck]

On the bright side Masche was not on the field for any goals against! #progress