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The ‘Little Chief’ is exactly the kind of player LFC need most

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Liverpool EvertonAFTER finding myself laughing away for the best part of ten minutes at the latest antics of Javier Mascherano, I embarked on a very interesting conversation with some of my work colleagues.

The topic – which player of the last ten years do you think would improve the current team the most?

My answer was El Jefecito – The Little Chief.

For those of you not aware, watch the YouTube video below and see how Mascherano received a red card in the Argentina v Ecuador clash, this week. View for your own merriment – I’ve already had mine! For those of you unable to watch, Mascherano was being taken from the field of play on a motorised stretcher when he took it upon himself to boot the driver twice in the shoulder.

The reason? Mascherano claims the driver was going too fast and was repeatedly ignoring his pleas to slow down. I find it odd that water was being thrown at the same time he started swinging his foot around, too much of a coincidence for me, but either way, I can’t help but find it hilarious. Even more so when you see his reaction to getting a straight red, probably followed by a long ban.

Although he left Liverpool under quite unsavoury terms, I have always found it difficult to hold a grudge against The Chief, in the same way I will struggle to hold a grudge against Luis Suarez if he leaves. The reason? One hundred percent effort all game, every game.

Mascherano patently hated it in England and said so on many occasions, but he still ran his blood to water, never shirked a tackle, showed more pride, commitment and passion in one game than some players do over an entire Liverpool career.

He has the sort of battling qualities that our midfield desperately lacks. We have quality there, but with the exception of Steven Gerrard, we have no presence. Mascherano buzzes around, he is competitive, he reads the game intelligently, he has a good range of passing and he knows exactly when and how to break up the opposition attack.

He has been deployed as a centre-half at Barcelona where I personally think he’s wasted. He can build from the back there in a slower paced league. That’s not his game; he is an all-action midfielder. Someone who puts himself about like a ten foot titan when he’s actually a man of relatively small stature. He is undoubtedly a world class central midfielder, and like Alonso, he was never replaced adequately; something from which we are still failing to recover from.

It was an interesting conversation, I also mooted Xabi Alonso, as did others, and Sami Hyypia also featured prominently, as they both should. For me we need a Mascherano type more than the other two.

It is of course purely hypothetical, I don’t think there’s a chance the Argentinean would want to play in England again. I just think that he is the type of player we need to invest in for central midfield. He was a truly class act.

When not booting stretcher drivers – but if laughing at that makes me a bad person, then I don’t want to be a good person!
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I'm a fully trained journalist who shunned a career in the profession due to my disillusionment with the tabloid press, instead hoping to become a professional author. I've written for The Liverpool Way for 7 years and am a regular on the forum using the name Agt Provocateur.

A passionate member of supporter group Kop Faithful, I've been a season ticket holder of 8 years and a regular match goer since 1995.

When not criticising diminishing refereeing standards in football, I can be found at Langtree Park, the home of St Helens Rugby League Club being highly critical of non existent standards of refereeing in Rugby League. I'm is also a massive Lancashire and England cricket fan.

14 comments

  • paul says:

    one goal every 10 years, no thanks

  • tru says:

    we didnt replace masch, cos that is lucas’ job. a job hes been doing bloody well when he has been clear of injury. it was rafa punking alonso that started the rot that were still tryna get out of. Gareth barry for god sake…better than xabi alonso?! seems more like something hodgson would have thought than rafa. bizarre.

    my answer would be a younger steven gerrard. if we had him as a twenty year old again, then i reckon we’d be in a pretty good position right now.

  • juan says:

    Yeah tru, i dont knw what did benitez saw in gareth barry that xabi alonso didnt have as a player… if he couldnt sell xabi alonso in his desirin for garreth barry i dont think if we would be in s deep trouble as we ar by now

  • redgeorge says:

    you think that was funny do you? no wonder football has gone down the pan! Idon’t care how good a footballer he is, petulant,nasty behaviour! would Pele have done that or Callaghan, Bobby Charlton???

  • Kopite_Cymraeg says:

    Not sure I can agree with your 100% for the cause statement. I understand your angle but I really can’t forgive his outright refusal to play in order to push through a transfer to Barcelona. Did enjoy the tribute he made when they beat the Mancs in the CL final though 🙂

  • stevieG says:

    Very true article. We never replaced masch , our midfield is weak and lacks fight

  • Blade says:

    I dnt agree wit dat cos we already have lucas who is doing well in place of javier. We only miss Alonso very much.

    • Gorg says:

      Didn’t I tell you not to speak through your *, Blade.

    • paullfc30yrs says:

      Lucas is not in the same class as Javier, as was evident when Javier was here, lucas looked very average. Its one of the reasons we are where we are, Lucas has not improved to the point of being world class, he is just an average midfielder….hence why we don’t compete with the best teams anymore. I am sorry if fans don’t like that, but its the truth.

  • collins says:

    alonso just got rafa as an excuse to leave……. I dont doubt his affection for Lfc but I think he loved to play in spain more…. otherwise he would have stayed

  • Corbs says:

    I completely agree, we’ve never replaced mascha… We do have Lucas but he is not the same player, he is a player who started out his career as an attacking midfielder in brazil winning the same awards as kaka and ronaldinho in his home country but has been played as a holding midfielder.. He has done a good job but he lacks pace to get back once he’s mistimed a tackle, he doesn’t ‘annoy’ players as Javier did we do need a player of that stature a player that can intimidate opposition midfielders but with the ability to still play football

  • Merseypete says:

    We’ve got enough LITTLE PEOPLE ! IN FACT WAY TOO MANY !

  • TaintlessRed says:

    Over the last 10 years? Either Alonso or Torres. Xabi benefited greatly from playing alongside the hardworking an energetic Mascherano, as he does in Real Madrid from playing next to Khedira or another holding midfielder in Busquets with Spain. Stevies a different type of player. Torres at his peak was sublime.

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