It makes me smile to see someone who quits on their team get on another team and prove to be a liability with that club. I am talking about Javier Mascherano who forced himself out of Liverpool where he was one of their better players now he is in Barcelona and is struggling to adapt to their style of play.
Newspapers in Spain are already calling for Pep Guardiola to recall Sergio Busquets in the place of Masch. It might take some time to adapt to a new League and a team who is known for their passing skills. However I won't give Mascherano a pass this time. The way he left Liverpool even had me feeling dirty and I am not even a Liverpool fan.
Barca should have known what they were getting with this player. He is in term a holding midfielder but he isn't the greatest in holding the ball up. He tackles, bull-rushes, and hardly strays forward. The way Barca apply pressure on teams he isn't needed to begin with. They are usually able to win the ball early and begin their attack through Messi and David Villa. Masch usually wins possession away from his opponents (it isn't a bad thing) Barcelona have 11 magicians on the pitch and Mascherano is no magician. Busquets was quite adequate in his play. He can pass, tackle, and if needs to get forward he can do that too
Maybe Mascherano will get his act together and show what he is worth or maybe he will get dumped at the end of this season. Then he could have his reunion with Rafa Benitez in Inter Milan that he wanted for a while. In my opinion, I hope he continues to ride pine for Barca and watch them play the beautiful game on the sidelines.
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