14 - Javier Mascherano

[DonAK]

Okay, there seem to be some sort of a thing going on here that every leader or only a should be a captain, thats not right at all. Its great to have several leaders and motivational characters in a team without needing to put a stamp of captaincy on them.

While having a motivational leader is great, it does NOT HAVE to be like that.

You can have a captain who leads from the front in terms of performance guided by leaders around him or vice versa.

It doesnt have to be one way. Mascherano has always been like this regardless of a title and band around his arm or not and him getting that title wont make a substantial amount of difference simply because it wont change anything.

 

[Alarcón]

Mascherano is not even a starter, how is he gonna be captain

 

[serghei]

Mascherano is not even a starter, how is he gonna be captain

Are you sure about that?

 

[Egert]

Are you sure about that?

If he can bench Boss then he will be a starter, but if not then bench for Masche.

 

[1207]

If he can bench Boss then he will be a starter, but if not then bench for Masche.

not necessary
if you wane play with Iniesta, messi, neymar and suarez, you probably need a double pivot

 

[Trickykid]

not necessary
if you wane play with Iniesta, messi, neymar and suarez, you probably need a double pivot

Eh, we've played with 3 attackers + The Don for a number of years. Why would that change with the arrival of Suarez?

 

[GoobiePls]

Eh, we've played with 3 attackers + The Don for a number of years. Why would that change with the arrival of Suarez?

Suarez doesn't have the workrate of a Pedro/Sanchez and in the most succesful period Messi worked much harder as well. A double pivot is probably the best against better teams.

 

[Trickykid]

Suarez doesn't have the workrate of a Pedro/Sanchez and in the most succesful period Messi worked much harder as well. A double pivot is probably the best against better teams.

Every single time I've watched Suarez play, he's been running his ass off, fighting like a... well, a rabid dog.
You're obviously right about Messi and his lack of workrate, but then again, we have Rakitic coming in to (most likely) replace Xavi, which should only be an increase in workrate. Add Rafinha somewhere in the equation, and you get another boost in tenacity.

 

[linetty]

Out of the front 3 only Messi doesn't have the workrate, Suarez and Neymar (maybe to a lesser extent) are hard-workers.

Rakitić is also a hardworker.

 

[GoobiePls]

Every single time I've watched Suarez play, he's been running his ass off, fighting like a... well, a rabid dog.
You're obviously right about Messi and his lack of workrate, but then again, we have Rakitic coming in to (most likely) replace Xavi, which should only be an increase in workrate. Add Rafinha somewhere in the equation, and you get another boost in tenacity.

True he works very hard making space for himself and getting in good positions, but not defensively covering for an Alves who well... you know.

Maybe Lucho is able to make him do that. However that would limit his game as I have an understanding that Suarez was bought to open space for Messi and finish sitters (be in the right position at the right time)

 

[Trickykid]

True he works very hard making space for himself and getting in good positions, but not defensively covering for an Alves who well... you know.

From what I've seen of him, I disagree completely. Thinking I might've been wrong here, I decided to look at various articles related to the matter.


Snatched from http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/10916

This is where it gets interesting. Suarez has the highest tackles per game with 1.3 tackles on average per game. For a striker, this really works well for teams that intend to press high up the pitch. Panicking defenders from this high pressing, with high successful tackles from the pressing, give way to forced errors (to borrow the tennis term). The higher the number of forced errors, obviously the more chances created to score the goal.

Similar to tackling, interceptions as well from high pressing work to create better chances to score from forced errors, as well as demonstrating Suarez’s incredibly high work-rate for his side. Suarez again has the highest number of interceptions on the 3rd part of the field, something integral for a high-pressing team. He intercepts a 0.6 times per game, again the highest for strikers.


From an article on Bleacherreport: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1950518-complete-analysis-of-luis-suarezs-liverpool-role

Suarez makes himself available across the full width of the pitch in the final third, concentrating his immense work rate and energy toward being a constant hassle for opposition defenders.
From here, he will chase balls, put defenders in possession under pressure, take the ball into wide areas or drive forward into the box with the technically brilliant, deft close control he possesses.
This constant movement allows his fellow attackers—Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling—the freedom to drift into space, either to draw defenders out of Suarez's path or create opportunities of their own.


Now, I'm not saying that you should trust articles like this blindly, but they depict pretty accurately what I've seen from Suarez nonetheless.

 

[CatalinR10]

tricky ,

 

[Trickykid]

:beer2:

 

[Samuel Eto'o]

A week late but nonetheless my respect for him has risen after watching him during the WC. He was a BEAST!!!

 

[Hellsangel]

MAS-CHERANO!