Redaktører: Guardiola, Wennerberg
Han var godt nok heller ikke sikker i starten .. Jesus nogle fejl han lavede ..Madbassen skrev:Ufatteligt, at han kun har spillet den plads i et år. Så sikker som han er dernede.Today exactly one year ago, Mascherano played for the first time as centre back with Barcelona #fcblive vs Shakhtar Donetsk [via @edupolo]
Pep Guardiola's preaching converts quiet man Mascherano to Barca style
Patience and a willingness to learn have transformed the midfielder into a key defender for the Spanish giants
Sid Lowe
Pep Guardiola looked his inquisitor in the eye and replied without hesitation: "I would never, ever sell him and I wouldn't swap him for anyone." Nothing unusual there, you might think, but Guardiola was not talking about Leo Messi, Andrés Iniesta or Xavi Hernández. He wasn't talking about Dani Alves or Sergio Busquets; he wasn't even talking about Cesc Fàbregas. He was talking about Javier Mascherano. And his words were not empty ones. Guardiola meant it. It is time to revise those easy assumptions.
The search for a weakness in the Barcelona side that Chelsea face in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final this week often settles on the midfielder playing at the back, on the player who does not appear to fit the Barcelona philosophy. There is just one problem with that argument: it is not true. Not any more. Mascherano has had to relearn his trade; in fact, he has had to learn a different trade and he has had to be patient, waiting for his opportunity, accepting his fate. But he has started 24 times in the league and in seven of nine Champions League games, and become so important to Barcelona that the assumption that he will return to the bench the day everyone is fit no longer looks so secure.
There were lots of people who could not really see how Mascherano would fit into the Barcelona team when he signed from Liverpool in the summer of 2010. Mascherano was one of them. He had signed only after the Catalan club's pursuit of Fàbregas failed and his debut ended with a shock 2-0 home defeat by Hercules, in which Mascherano – slow on and off the ball – gave away the free-kick that led to one of the goals and was fortunate to escape a red card. It also ended at half-time, when Guardiola took him off.
Few doubted he was a good player; many doubted he was the right player. Others wondered how long he would accept secondary status; this, after all, was a €22m signing and captain of Argentina. El Jefecito, the little chief. He was also 26 years old, not a kid with time on his hands. The answer, as it turned out, was: as long as it takes. "I'd be an idiot if I thought I'll play ahead of Xavi and Iniesta," Mascherano said. As for Busquets, the man occupying his position, Mascherano called him "the perfect player".
"It is a blessing to be here. I watch Busquets and learn," he said. "I'd love to be able to play like [Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets], but I can't."
The Argentinian might not have won a place immediately, but his attitude quickly won people over. He has filled in whenever he was called upon and kept quiet whenever he was not. Instead of wailing, he watched. When he speaks he does so with clarity and conviction, a quiet authority, and with rare understanding and analysis. Yet there is also a kind of wide-eyed eagerness and he is never off message. He speaks with a convert's zeal, describing team-mates with a kind of hushed awe. "I have never seen anything like Barcelona; it is not that they win, it is the way the win," he said. "I now know that there's another way of thinking about football.
"I have come here to learn and enjoy," he insisted. Barcelona can be likened to a sect in its single-minded, exclusive commitment to an ideal: Mascherano has successfully been re-programmed. "Pep always surprises you with some detail," he says. The broad brushstrokes, the fundamentals of the central midfielder's role, have been altered too. Always taught to follow his passes, Guardiola preaches the opposite: moving away or simply stopping still to open up new lines of passing. Rather than resisting, Mascherano received the advice like a revelation. "I run less, but I am closer to the play," he says. "Positioning is vital here."
If his positioning has changed; so has his position. However much he developed, Busquets ensured that midfield opportunities were limited. With injuries, opportunities at the back have opened up. Mascherano has played as one of two centre-backs and was flawless in that role during last year's Champions League final. But in the absence of Eric Abidal and with Alves alternating between right-back and right winger, it is his role in a three that has really brought him to the fore. "It's not easy adapting and it's been strange to leave the midfield, my natural role, but I feel comfortable with Piqué and Puyol," he says.
The feeling is mutual. Quick across the turf, neat and simple in possession, and handed the role of leaving the back three to seek to win the ball, striding out if successful, returning if not, he has been a revelation. Against Milan and Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona's last two home games, Mascherano committed only one foul, yet he recovered possession 27 times, averaging more than anyone in the Barcelona team. Over those two matches he only lost the ball once. Speed helps; awareness too. For all the intensity and toughness, intelligence has been the key to his success.
Asked which of his team-mates would make the best manager, Alves insists: "Mascherano. He has a spectacular view of football. Whenever I talk to him, he tells me something new; he notices things you don't. He really understands the game."
"I never expected him to give us as much as he has: his value is unimaginable," Guardiola admitted. "He has been spectacular as a player and a person. Javier Mascherano is the best signing this club has made in four years."
Fantastisk!Brombi skrev:Barcelona plan to offer Javier Mascherano (27) a contract extension for one year, until 2015, possibly with an optional extra year. [md]
Mascherano’s stats over the 2011-12 season. He played 4,405 minutes, more than any other central defender at Barça; 51 of 63 games, 45 of them in central defense.
Hvorfor var det dog ikke vores udebanetrøje?FCBarcelonaChr skrev:Mascherano fylder idag 28 år! Stort tillykke til ham!
Jeg ser dig også gerne spille der, mere end på den def.midt..Mascherano: "At Barcelona, I want to continue to play as centre back, it's where I feel most comfortable."
Barcelona centre back Mascherano (28) will sign a contract renewal, including a payrise, until 2016. Current contract until 2014. [catradio]
Mascherano: "The renewal talks are well-advanced, the deal is almost done, it won't take long to finalize it." #fcblive
Mascherano: "I'm very happy here, I feel valued and I want to continue for many more years." #fcblive
Mascherano: "When I decided to take a pay cut to join Barcelona, I didn't do that thinking they would return me the favor later." #fcblive
Mascherano: "It was a sporting decision and it was the best decision I made in my life. Without it, I wouldn't have achieved all I achieved"
Mascherano: "At this club, I feel more comfortable at centre back. But I'm available to play wherever the coach wants me to play." #fcblive
Mascherano: "There won't change a lot now that Tito is head coach, because Pep and Tito agreed on the things they did before." #fcblive
Mascherano: "The Ballon d'Or is an individual trophy. I'd give it to Messi. Then Xavi and Iniesta. Messi scored 80+ goals, that's madness."
Mascherano: "Cristiano attacking Messi during Euro? I'm not there to judge, everyone is responsible for his own acts and words." #fclive
Mascherano: "Retiring at Barça? I am not thinking about that. The renewal would be until 2016, when I'll be 32. We'll see then." #fcblive
Mascherano: "Without the tactical concepts Pep explained me and without Gerard by my side, it'd have been impossible to play at centre back"
Mascherano: "We still feel bad about the CL elimination. I think we were the beter team over 180 minutes, but we couldn't make it happen."
Mascherano: "Villa is doing great. The important thing for him now is to get his confidence back. We missed his goals last season."
Mascherano: "Mourinho pardoned for eye-gouge? Tito closed the discussion the other day. As he said, the biggest punishment are the images."
Mascherano: "Agger rumour? He's a great player, good passing, can score. As a person, he's fantastic. Respectful and committed."
Mascherano: "Many transfer rumours? Normal this time of the year. And it's good a squad renews, that you bring in new people who are hungry"
Mascherano: "Javi Martinez? Also a great player who has all the skills needed to play here. Like me, he also changed to centre back."
Mascherano: "I got on Twitter because there were fakes and I prefer to talk myself. I read the mentions and I'm grateful for the support."
Mascherano: "My renewal is almost done. There might be an announcement this week, or the next. I'm anyway very calm about it."
Fantastisk at vi har fået forlænget med Masch! Fantastisk udvikling han har været igennem.Official: Barcelona announce that the contract of centre back Javier Mascherano (28) has been renewed until 2016 #fcblive
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