Masch Debating - Just how good is Mascherano?

[all_funkt_up]

Well I must admit that I am very impressed with young Javier. Since his arrival in January he has really started to demonstrate just why he was so highly regarded IMO. He had a very good world cup and after their excellent season last year, I really thought that he and West Ham were due to go onto better things together. The transfer was a massive massive shock to most people as players like Mascherano is surely too good for a club like West Ham. for my money he has all the hall-marks of a world class player.

I had a big arguement last week about this actually with one of my mates. I think he looks like our best bet for centre mid at the moment. He has a bit of everything. He tackles as well as Momo Sissoko and has a great deal of energy - I thought it would take a while to regain match fitness and Jav has really suprised me. But unlike Momo, he can actually do something meaningful with the ball once he has won it.

He plays quite often in Alonso's hole. To qualify, I was not inferring any suggestion of homosexuality there, I just meant that he plays really well in the space between defence and midfield. He has the vision to make some excellent passes but unlike Xabi, he is a really strong tackler too. He can bomb forward and makr driving runs in the mould of our glorious leader as well - to me the lad seems the real deal. He has a brilliant balance of all 3 of our best midfielders and would be one of my first names on the team sheet for every game.

I only hope that we have actually bought him and if that is the case, that we can hold onto him. Reports have varied and no-one seems to know what the situation is. I was told that it was an 18 month loan deal that cost us £1.5 million with an guaranteed first-option to buy at £10 million when that expires. Another report I have heard is that we had to buy him outright when the Premier League began investigating the player's transfer to West Ham. The Prem wouldnt sanction another dodgy transfer involving MSI and so we bought him for a one-off £18million on a 4 year deal with Jav.

Would be interested to see what other people think of him here. I am very very excited about the prospect of seeing the best of him next year. I really cant find fault with the guy and I reckon he has the prospect to be a truly class player in the coming years.

[Densa85]

I think that Javier Mascherano is one of the best defensiv midfielder in the whole World!He has to evaluate his skills but at the World Cup in Germany he showed that he is a talented player.West Ham was just a missunderstanding and in Liverpool he can show how strong he really is!

[Winrew]

Class player.

Plays simple stuff , nothing fancy , seems to read the game really well.

[all_funkt_up]

He does the simple stuff well Winrew. With every other midfielder we have or have had, I can pick out flaws in their game. Such is life I suppose, but with Jav I think we have a real Gem. I struggle to identify his shortcomings and he really is a class act.

[keemanan]

typical Liverpool fan , they win a couple and suddenly all their players are the best there has ever been. I went through their best team with a manure fan the other day and we both agreed only 1 player from Liverpool would play for Utd , all of Utd's first team would captain Liverpool.
Sorry AFU but it seems Liverpool are a cup team nowadays.
If Maschereno was that good he would have played at least 1 good game for West Ham. Let's see him do it for at least 2 seasons before you bestow greatness upon him. Of course all the Liverpool fans on the TV , and basically that's ALL the BBC , will be creaming over Rafa and his great new signing but the facts are that Liverpool are 18 points behind Man utd and that's all that people actually see

[all_funkt_up]

Keem, you'd be suprised actually about the BBC. We all reckon there's a plot against us to minimise our coverage. Every single week we are last on Match of the Day without exception. The coverage is so biased against us and they very rarely have anything good to say about Liverpool mate.

Liverpool are only a cup team because they havent had the resources to be able to strengthen sufficiently and buy in quality players. I think Rafa has done exceptionally well with the money he has had available to him and now he has the funds to go out and splash on a consistant winger and a world class striker. With those 2 key elements, we will be up there next year.

We have a solid back-line, a tough midfield but lack a bit of spark and creativity. I dont think either Kewell or Garcia will ever be the men to deliver that and so a genuinely good winger is needed. And as for the forward line, ship out Bellamy and Fowler and ship in Voronin (cheap as chips) and then one clinical striker who can net 20 league goals a season.

The addition to the squad of Arboela and Mascherano really bodes well for next year. They have both impressed greatly in the last couple of months. We have a top top team for the future now, Agger is looking like a great acquisition too.

Roll on 2007/2008 - Liverpool for the Premiership.

As Keem says though, for this year we'll just have to settle for the European Cup. Its a hard life.

[keemanan]

aye I'm crying out of one eye fo ya AFU. Win the league then I'll believe Liverpool are a great team again.

As for match of the day you have Hansen, Lawrenson , Motson on R5 you have Green all aching to see a resurgent Liverpool

[all_funkt_up]

Green I will give you. He is a season ticket holder at Anfield too. He and Mike Ingham (SP??) harbour scouse sympathies. But Hanson and Lawro are the most anti Liverpool pundits around. I'd prefer to see Big Ron and Clive the Red commentating on one of our games.

[all_funkt_up]

Just been on Javier's Wikipedia page and apparently his nickname is Jefecito, which apparently translates as Little Chef.

Not bad, but I prefer Monster Masch

"He is a monster of a player and destined for great things."
Maradona

[anothamug]

surely motty is a spurs fan you only have to listen to games he commentates on them to see how excited he gets, anyway as for masch he's done very well for liverpool fits into the team superbly with gerrard and masch in the middle, you have bangers n masch, couldn't resist sorry

[MYDOGDYLAN]

He plays quite often in Alonso's hole

AFU did really mean to say that.

[all_funkt_up]

Well it seems young Javier is very happy at Liverpool anyway....

Here's an article with him in from today:

Argentine ace Javier Mascherano has revealed he is just loving life at Liverpool and feels really at home in the heart of the Reds engine room in midfield.
The World Cup star feels he has settled down quickly and is hoping to play his part in some more glory for the club this season in the Champions League.

"The truth is I am very happy at Liverpool," enthused Mascherano.

"Everybody is treating me very well and I hope it continues like that. It is good to be in a dressing room where there is a lot of Spanish spoken but at the same time we try to speak in English because we are in England and we have to respect that fact.

"There is a great atmosphere in the dressing room and things are going very well. My teammates, the technical staff and the fans have been really good to me and that is important.

"Reading was my fourth consecutive game so I am very happy because I have been getting a good run in the side. We knew that we needed the three points and it was important because there are still some big league games to come. We need to keep winning to make sure we are in the Champions League next season.

"I know what my job is out on the pitch and luckily, here at Liverpool there are some great players. When you are playing with such great players you really enjoy it. It is much easier to play alongside great players like the ones here at Liverpool.

"Hopefully we can achieve something very important this season by winning a European title. There is still a long way to go and hopefully we will put in a good performance on Wednesday to make sure we are in the semi-finals."

[all_funkt_up]

I've wondered for some time now, just what exactly Mascherano's contract entailed with us. Some speculated that we owned Javier, others said we had bought him for 18 months; at which point he would be free to determine his future as a free agent.

The second theory it seems have been proven true. The Times podcast yesterday ran with the story that Mascherano was on load/contracted to Liverpool until this summer and at that point he is free to decide what he does next. Apparently Liverpool have first option to discuss terms with him, but he can quite easily turn round and decline the contract in order to move somewhere else.

So the lesson of the day is; dont go buying your kids a mascherano kit for christmas from the club shop!

(extract from the Times - Guilleme Balague to Kia Joorabchian)

Balague to Joorabchian: It's come out that Liverpool - 'oops' - forgot to put first option in the contract with Mascherano. Is that the case, and have they missed on that opportunity? And is that where the interest of Barcelona comes in?

Joorabchian: No, I don't know where that has come out actually. I think that the people that leaked that don't really know what the contract says. The contract says - it's a very standard contract which was sort of structured by the Premier League. Liverpool have first option to sign Javier. What Liverpool didn't do is to secure with Javier his contract for a period after his loan term expires. But at the time...

Balague: What do you mean, Liverpool didn't take that option, or didn't renew it, or...?

Joorabchian: So for example if Liverpool want to take first option, they will come up and say "we've exercised our first option". Then they have to sit down with the player, and they have to make a new four year contract, five year contract... player's contract - and that's what they haven't secured. So if the player doesn't want to stay there, then he has an option to leave, basically.

But you know, even if they had signed a four year contract, and the player wasn't happy to stay there, who's gonna pay a lot of money for a player that doesn't want to be there? Nobody.

Balague: So are Barcelona not interested then?

Joorabchian: There's obviously a lot of clubs gonna be interested in Javier. Javier's proved himself in England, and proved himself across the European scene, and proved himself on the world scene; but I think it's far too early to start talking about Barcelona, Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester, Arsenal, or whatever, because he's still got until June, and a lot of things happen on a weekly and a daily basis in football. I think that everybody hopes that Liverpool like him, and they keep him. Whether they do or not is purely Liverpool's choice.