14 - Javier Mascherano

[D10S_JC]

Help Pique a lot today. He can start in DM for every team except Barca and Bayern

 

[pacp_96]

Double pivot with him and Busi would be an idea in the Clasico to stop the counter attacks. Then they can jus give it to MSN to finish off.

 

[Behrox]

Double pivot with him and Busi would be an idea in the Clasico to stop the counter attacks. Then they can jus give it to MSN to finish off.

Rakitic-Masch-Busi in the first half to see off the initial storm then Iniesta/Xavi-Rakitic-Busi/Masch in the second half to see off RM

 

[FC B]

He was solid as a DM yesterday. I'm eager to see him play much more there especially against tougher teams.

 

[D10S_JC]

Even Pep give up the single pivot, Barca need to change

 

[serghei]

Mascherano is better than Busquets at blocking attacks. The way Lucho is playing, we would benefit more from having Masche covering the DM spot than Busquets. Busquets was part of a midfield trio, and we don't have that anymore.

 

[Iarwain]

GOAT ball winner but nowhere near as comfortable on the ball as Busquets. I believe it would be tough for him to do build-ups from the back against big team high pressure.

 

[jairzinho]

Mascherano is better than Busquets at blocking attacks. The way Lucho is playing, we would benefit more from having Masche covering the DM spot than Busquets. Busquets was part of a midfield trio, and we don't have that anymore.

AGREED

 

[Zangash]

He was solid as a DM yesterday. I'm eager to see him play much more there especially against tougher teams.

Never going to bench Busquets against tougher teams. Sorry to interrupt the massive bukake going on in here but Masche is not anywhere near Busquets level as a CDM and one decent performance against Eibar doesn't change that. He could have probably had a solid game there playing as our main striker.

 

[CatalinR10]

Never going to bench Busquets against tougher teams. Sorry to interrupt the massive bukake going on in here but Masche is not anywhere near Busquets level as a CDM and one decent performance against Eibar doesn't change that. He could have probably had a solid game there playing as our main striker.

World cup.



But yeah , no one will start ahead of Busi.

 

[Zangash]

World cup.

Judging players based on how they played in international competition is what Real Madrid does. Fitting into Argentina as a great CDM does not mean that success will translate to Barca, hence why he has only just played his first game as CDM for us despite us often resting Busi and playing lesser players like Song, Samper, and Keita as CDM ahead of him.

 

[Mythical Revolution]

Playing Masch in a double pivot would negatively impact our possession game, but I think there are 3 hidden advantages that haven't been mentioned:

1) Par Xavi, Busquets is our best distributor. As sole DM he can't really assume that role, but with Masch in midfield – he can. In fact he can still act as our main man in buildups, at the cost of playing as a deep lying playmaker which given his limitations going forward wouldn't be a cost at all.

2) Ceding possession more often means that now the other team has the ball and needs to move it forward or risk being dispossessed in their own half. So if that team is parking the bus, they now need to move it. Against a powerful counter attacking team like RM, it could be even more effective since they would be more willing to move forward creating space for us, and by having to make more frequent sprints they would end up getting tired faster.

3) A double-pivot would be ideal for containing Bale/Christiano. By dropping Masch back as a 3rd CB when we are in possession we gain the ability of being able to either double mark B/C or have Alves/Alba push forward without leaving space behind.

IMO, a 3-4-3 with a double pivot would be the ideal formation for us; but to make it work you need at least 2 CB who have pace in abundance and now we have them (Mathieu/V); although I wouldn't recommend taking such a radical step less than a week ahead of a Clasico.

 

[anguy]

IMO, a 3-4-3 with a double pivot would be the ideal formation for us; but to make it work you need at least 2 CB who have pace in abundance and now we have them (Mathieu/V); although I wouldn't recommend taking such a radical step less than a week ahead of a Clasico.

3-4-3 with double pivot and the way our strikers are playing would be unbelievably narrow. Will never happen.

 

[Neeraj]

Anybody else think Masch should start over Biscuits in CDM for the clasico? I thought he was very good against Eibar, granted, he didn't have to do very much. I think he is a much better tackler/physical presence to break up counters and any slick passing that Modric and Kroos would attempt. Biscuits' strength is the positioning as well as what he offers up front, with his great vision and through balls. When he's not in form though, I think Masch would be a better choice.

Can never in a million years see this actually happening, but IMO would make us a lot stronger.

 

[PhilS]

Anybody else think Masch should start over Biscuits in CDM for the clasico? I thought he was very good against Eibar, granted, he didn't have to do very much. I think he is a much better tackler/physical presence to break up counters and any slick passing that Modric and Kroos would attempt. Biscuits' strength is the positioning as well as what he offers up front, with his great vision and through balls. When he's not in form though, I think Masch would be a better choice.

Can never in a million years see this actually happening, but IMO would make us a lot stronger.

That might be a bit soon, but I'd like to see him at DM more often, like maybe 10 more games this season. His passing has improved so much since he came to Barca, I think he would be an upgrade not only at snuffing attacks but also with the through balls. Not even Busquets should have a guaranteed spot.