14 - Javier Mascherano

[10Messi10]

"No player will be one yellow away from suspension at the Camp Nou. If Barça qualify, the only way they can have a player suspended at Wembley is through a sending off. "

Quote Barcahomepage.

that's true..the yellows are accumulated just until 1st leg CL semi final...after that, all players are clean like a baby..so no suspension if we through to the final unless when red-carded

 

[Myrmecophile]

He's said and done all the right things off the pitch all season IMO.

Didn't complain when he wasn't playing much, worked hard, made himself an invaluable member of the squad.

 

[jairzinho]

Is there any chance now he can start ahead of Sergi.B for the DM spot ?.

 

[Aryagorn]

I have a hope we may have found the right partner for Pique for when Puyi is gone... We all seem to agree now that Pique's game is not as good when there isn't Puyi around him to keep his concentration intact. I think MAsch may fill the void that Puyi leaves in that regard. I know currently he is very timid to pass on the orders or shout around on his partners to stay focused because he is relatively new comer and is only just settling, but once he's settled we can safely assume that he'll take on the duties of Puyi in that regard. After all he's a good captain for Argentina and he's been the leader for Liverpool(even though not the captain but he was always one of the front men)

 

[desoe]

Is there any chance now he can start ahead of Sergi.B for the DM spot ?.

I think it depends more on Sergio's form than on Mascherano's.

 

[Mythical Revolution]

IMO Mascherano has been playing much better than Busquets recently and would deserve the DM spot ahead of Busquets.I would favor playing with a B-M-X-I midfield for our next game against RM as we would have a less strenuous game defensively without sacrificing our possession game. Villa by playing in a 4-2-2-2 formation would be also able to play in the middle where he is most lethal.

 

[yusuf]

IMO Mascherano has been playing much better than Busquets recently and would deserve the DM spot ahead of Busquets.I would favor playing with a B-M-X-I midfield for our next game against RM as we would have a less strenuous game defensively without sacrificing our possession game. Villa by playing in a 4-2-2-2 foLMrmation would be also able to play in the middle where he is most lethal.

LMAO ....where r u guys coming from busqeuts is the perfect DM to play our style and system and just cause macsherano played ok at CB does not make him better than busquets at DM :

 

[Xavi_78]

His experience as CB could also help the argentine national team to solve one of his most urgent issues: the lack of any acceptable CB. But they have enough who can play in midfield. Would be interesting to see if they try him out as CB in the copa.

 

[Chainsaw]

His experience as CB could also help the argentine national team to solve one of his most urgent issues: the lack of any acceptable CB. But they have enough who can play in midfield. Would be interesting to see if they try him out as CB in the copa.

I doubt they use him as CB. Samuel and Milito if becomes fit till the time will most likely play as the CB pair.

 

[Xavi_78]

Samuel alright, but Milito? As far as I know both are not very fast, so they need at least one player with a little bit of pace.

 

[Chainsaw]

Samuel alright, but Milito? As far as I know both are not very fast, so they need at least one player with a little bit of pace.

Like who?! It's not like Argentina has some bunch of great CBs at the helm now. Samuel and Milito seem to be the most reliable CBs that Argentina has, even if they are not at the best of forms now.

 

[estranged]

Milito is a total liability, aside from that there is a great chance he wont even feature in copa because he will probably get injured...

 

[Xavi_78]

Like who?! It's not like Argentina has some bunch of great CBs at the helm now. Samuel and Milito seem to be the most reliable CBs that Argentina has, even if they are not at the best of forms now.

yeah, but because of that Smash could be a good option.

 

[fcbarcatenerife]

Mascherano is decent at CB, but he's still an emergency back up. I think that next season we should start a back line of Alves - Piqué - Abidal - Adriano. Honestly, as great as Puyol has been in the two clásicos, Abidal was fucking amazing when he was playing there during the captain's injury. If he comes back healthy he needs to start. I prefer Adriano at LB anyway because he has the potential to give us the same offensive thrust as Alves and pretty good defense as well. He's faster and stronger than Maxy and he seems to have started to get the tiki taka style as his playing time increased. His only problem is that he can't run all day like Alves, so we need a good back up for when he gets tired or injured. Honestly, I prefer Puyol to be kept in reserve to fill in for the inevitable injuries and suspensions as he can play all 4 spots. If we keep Maxy one more season (or if Bartra is ready for the first team) and Fontàs can give us minutes in the Copa del Rey I don't think we need to sign any more defenders next season.

Check out the depth chart:

RB Alves, Adriano, Maxwell, Puyol

RCB Piqué, Puyol, Busquets, Mascherano

LCB Abidal, Puyol, Fontàs, Busquets, Mascherano

LB Adriano, Abidal, Maxwell, Puyol, Fontàs

That's 8 players who can all play at least two positions to cover 4 spots.

 

[La LL]

I honestly think Mascherano is much better than Busquets. He doesn't playact as much as Busi (something that always stings me the wrong place. Busi is good but his playacting drags his other qualities down I feel.), he's aggressive, has good ball-control now and he's shown himself to be an able tackler. On top of that he has huge balls and has shown willingness to take one for the team (stopping Bendtner in our second Arsenal CL leg with an awesome collision).

I think he's proven himself and at the price that we bought him for he should be more than a back-up CB.