14 - Javier Mascherano

[El Anti-Galactico]

Hi. I'm still at the phase of (mostly) newbie questions about Barcelona players/formation/etc so here's another one.

Mascherano's signing is, from what I can see, a very good one for Barcelona. He's a quality DM, no doubt about it. That said, there seem to be quite a few people who are convinced he's going to automatically take the starting DM position from Busquets. Now maybe I'm looking more at the World Cup performances than some of the league performances, but it seems to me that Busquets is a remarkably good DM for his young age, and one who suits the Barcelona style of play quite well. So, if my analysis is anywhere approaching generally accepted views...why's he going to be benched?

One thing to keep in mind, last year Busquets played in 52 club matches, Keita played in 44, and Toure played 37. These numbers are a tad high due to Iniesta missing a lot of matches, but there is a lot of PT to go around there.

 

[vittorio]

Busquets will not be benched. for sure.

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Busquets will not be benched. for sure.

+1. They can both be accommodated. Sorry for sounding like a broken record but they can

 

[Pepe Silvia]

one thing for sure, Badgerano will start for sure in both classicos.

Hahahaha! Badgerano I love it.

 

[La Furia]

Considering both Mascherano and Biscuits will suffer plenty of suspensions, I don't think we should worry too much about fitting them both in.

 

[FCBarca]

Considering both Mascherano and Biscuits will suffer plenty of suspensions, I don't think we should worry too much about fitting them both in.

I think you're only talking about Javier...Sergi isn't as much a risk in that regard as Masch is

Last year, Biscuit had 8 yellows, 1 red...Masch, on the other hand was ranked #1 last season as most disciplined player in the EPL...9 yellow, 2 red

Interesting the contrast, not too dissimilar in terms of bookings but for their respective leagues, one is #1 and the other isn't even in the top 30

 

[Tomchin]

I think you're only talking about Javier...Sergi isn't as much a risk in that regard as Masch is

Last year, Biscuit had 8 yellows, 1 red...Masch, on the other hand was ranked #1 last season as most disciplined player in the EPL...9 yellow, 2 red

Interesting the contrast, not too dissimilar in terms of bookings but for their respective leagues, one is #1 and the other isn't even in the top 30

On the other hand, Barca have way more possession than Liverpool do, so in all likelihood, Mascherano will have to execute less tackles than he has to perform at Liverpool, thus less chances on cards.

Btw, Busquets' RC was in the Camp Nou Clasico eh, or am I confusing things here?

 

[FCBarca]

On the other hand, Barca have way more possession than Liverpool do, so in all likelihood, Mascherano will have to execute less tackles than he has to perform at Liverpool, thus less chances on cards.

Btw, Busquets' RC was in the Camp Nou Clasico eh, or am I confusing things here?

62nd minute in November, yep...Although, to be fair, it wasn't a straight red...It was his 2nd yellow (Hand ball, a foolish one too)

[youtube]gzcngNQLol8[/youtube]

 

[Galning]

That was really stupid..
Love Pep's reaction though 'SERGIOOOOOOOOOOOO' and then a facepalm at 0:29

 

[JAMAIN]

I can't wait to see him win the first ball and play it on for Xavi. This is going to be great. Just great!

 

[Aryagorn]

Badger has really been cool in the interviews... I guess he's got some advice from the boss during the li'l Pep talk that they had after he "refused" to play for Pool against City

 

[evilhita666]

Apparently he lashed out at Liverpool, according to the english press he said his former team spread lies regarding his transfer and never fulfilled their promises... It's the english press after all, so who knows, could be an invention by some journalist...

 

[shann]

Apparently he lashed out at Liverpool, according to the english press he said his former team spread lies regarding his transfer and never fulfilled their promises... It's the english press after all, so who knows, could be an invention by some journalist...

He didn't "lash out". The English press just really like to make a big deal out of it. What he said was it was never about his family. He was promised something and he didn't get it.

"When they started to involve my family and to say things that didn't make sense, I obviously suffered. They'd promised me something for a whole year and they never fulfilled their promise. And that didn't have anything to do with my family or anything else. When you read or hear lies, you obviously get angry."

 

[Barcafan 2304]

Very interesting stuff. Something is rotten at Liverpool

 

[silky_soccer]

Very interesting stuff. Something is rotten at Liverpool

The Football?