We knew he can't do anything in attack but lately he does nothing in defense either. He has no competition and suffers from lack of motivation.
Mascherano had a superb World Cup at dm, holding the midfield practically on his own and has deserved a chance to start there for Barca as well. He distributes the ball faster, can shoot and is as much of an interceptor as Busquets.
Busquets in his prime is probably better but that Busquets is lost in 2011.
As off form as Busi has been, I disagree with all of this. The guy needs a boot up his ass, but you're really overrating Masch here. His 'holding of the midfield practically on his own' never existed until the quarterfinals when Biglia benched Gago (the hype for Mascherano coming in hard after the Netherlands match) and Argentina became a bunkered defensive body. Mascherano's only standout performance was in the semifinal in fact, wasn't much of a presence in the final. Most of Argentina's problems early on were actually centered in the midfield being far too slow and over-reliance on Messi/Di Maria to create things and not being defensively sound (until the quarterfinals). He was Argentina's 2nd best player of the tournament but probably wouldn't have been if Di Maria remained fit.
Saying that he distributes the ball faster is quite perplexing. Busquets has always been known for his one touch game and ability to keep the play flowing while Mascherano lingered on the ball an insane amount of time in the WC, the reason why Argentina's passing game was ridiculously slow. He'd be on the ball facing forward and then pivot left and right about 3-4 times before playing it to the CB or adjacent DM. It was ridiculous and repetitive. I don't claim an eidetic memory but the only instance I can recall Mascherano making a semi-notable pass in between the lines was for Messi's first goal against Nigeria (pass was to Di Maria who hit the post), other than that it was always pinned back under pressure which kept the play from moving forward. Busi makes important passes between the lines often which are important/undervalued in transition and has set up 2 goals this season with his interceptions. As for being a better shooter, Mascherano's negative goal tally for Barcelona pretty much speaks for itself doesn't it
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He has had his fair share of sloppy games this season and needs some talking to about this, but I still take him over Masch any day of the week (especially in the sense that our attack/passing play has been complained about most, which Mascherano would heavily detract from). I'd sooner promote Samper as full time deputy than make Masch permanent starter at DM.
