Masche is the solution

He is CB who is involved in game more than he was as DM in Liverpool.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:I think he's happy to play at all

lol

seriously though I remember a decent number of players that left their teams because they were playing role they weren't comfortable with.

By the way it seems Pep has a CB role in store for Masch as he seems to turn to Keita for a second anchorman after Buschi.

Of course that was in the friendlies where the Copa America players weren't present but we'll see...

I'm sure that Masch comes after Busi in the DM pecking order. Keita is awful in that role and barely ever plays it.

Agreed I remember him struggling in the friendlies...

but Pep loves him...

I'm not sure why you're saying that in the sarcastic color? It's a known fact

no sarcasm at all...








just romance....

"He is the kind of player every manager wants..."
-Pep

Pep should cut the Keita love.

More time to Machete and Thiago.

I'm sick of seeing Keita coming in to hold a lead and then automatically conceed a goal. He isn't really a defensive force. Bring in Machete if you want someone to defend.

He helps us regain possession in times we need him to. He serves a role only a few others can do. Although I definitely see less Keita minutes this season. With both Cesc and Alexis it will be harder to sub in Keita for Villa or Iniesta when you have superstars in demand of minutes.

Puff, Keita was named MVP in the Gamper and Pep said Keita has been the best man in the pre-season. Sick of the excessive Keita love.

billy_gr wrote:no sarcasm at all...








just romance....

The pink colour says it all.

To be honest 'best man in the pre-season' is merely a fitness contest

BarrileteCosmico wrote:He helps us regain possession in times we need him to. He serves a role only a few others can do. Although I definitely see less Keita minutes this season. With both Cesc and Alexis it will be harder to sub in Keita for Villa or Iniesta when you have superstars in demand of minutes.

The biggest issue I see is, he is great at pressing and trapping. But when he plays the Busquets DM role, thats not the position where that pressing matters. So, why Pep uses him as DM I dont get.

Pep treats Masche unfairly and loves Keita too much;/ I think that Mascherano will play as CB this season, Pep loves Keita and will keep playing him as DM, even if he sucks there;/ I wouldn't be surprised if Masche doesn't play even one whole match as DM in this season;/ This Keita love must end ffs.

The Franchise wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:He helps us regain possession in times we need him to. He serves a role only a few others can do. Although I definitely see less Keita minutes this season. With both Cesc and Alexis it will be harder to sub in Keita for Villa or Iniesta when you have superstars in demand of minutes.

The biggest issue I see is, he is great at pressing and trapping. But when he plays the Busquets DM role, thats not the position where that pressing matters. So, why Pep uses him as DM I dont get.

Wasn't it because Busi was injured and Masch not there yet? I still think that Masch is second choice for DM.

Yeah, but this an added problem of having no depth at centerback like I been saying.

If Mascherano if forced into playing at the back, which will possibly only take one injury or suspension to Pique or Puyol and Busi misses a single game in that time, Keita goes into defensive midfield.

Mascherano is 2nd choice DM I really hope, but it wont take much on the injuries/suspension front to get either Busi at centerback or Keita at DM...both of which are terrible imo.

Mascherano is world class at CB, mostly because he's such a good tackler, he's also been winning headers too

I was going to put this in the Porto thread, but I think here is better.

I disliked Mascherano's performance, in fact I thought he had a horrible game. Mind you, its not exactly his fault.

He can defend fine for a CB, that is now proven. However, with the ball, he is terrible. Anytime it isnt rolling to him perfectly, he has difficulty continuing passing moves. He did at least 7 long balls high in the air for no reason tonight and we suffered possession wise because of it.

The thing is, at centerback, he has more time on the ball, but that actually isnt a good thing for him. You see, when he plays DM, he is in more traffick and often he isnt facing the goal. He is side on or back to goal. Therefore, whenever he gets a pass the decision is already made for him, he has to pass it relatively quick because he knows he will get closed down and he doesnt have the ability to get out of it.

But at CB, he has inital time and he takes touches and has to make a decision. Now, if he wasnt pressed and allowed to just play it simple to the DM, RB or other CB we would be fine. But when we are pressed, you see the flaw.

The opponant will press up and mark the midfielders, then Dani Alves. The passes to these players are much harder and its not always possible to make them. The angle to the other centerback is now cut by a player and Mascherano has to make a decision. He doesnt have the ability of a Pique (or even an Abidal who has come on leaps and bounds at this) to dribble out and commit a defender to him, so he hoofs it long before he gets closed down.

The thing is, he wants to make a decision, but once that has been take away he doesnt have the ability to readjust and make another decision anything like often enough.

If say Pique has the ball and his option is cut of, he can improvise, change direction and look for another pass, if that is cut off he can dribble it out..he has many options because he is much more intellegant and has much better skill. Mascherano wants the first option and if it isnt there, he ends up launching it.

What is also worse, he takes longer to control balls (or he cant control them period so he hoofs it) so he ends up having less time on the ball in the first place.


I thought him playing further away from goal would be a plus offensively when he is at centerback and it can be. But if teams press us, it becomes a bigger problem.

After 30 minutes I was literally pleading for Busquets to be brought on.

Yeah he's not exactly your ideal ball playing CB

Interesting comments Dani, I have yet to see the match as I was working during it, but I'm downloading it and will keep an eye out for that.

I dont want to be too hard on him and make it sound like I hate him, I do not.

I also see the plus of having him at CB, I see he his tackling ability, his quickness speed across the ground and his covering.

But with the ball, I am pretty concerned on todays evidence.

Anyway, see for your self Alf and feel free to put your point across of course.

He can learn to pass ball and stay calm with ball at back but Keita will never learn to play as Barca type DM -.-

I believe the lack of a proper DM in that match contributed to Masche looking so bad on the ball because when Busi is at DM he drops back to pick up the ball from the CBs, Keita isn't as good as him in that aspect.

The Franchise wrote:I was going to put this in the Porto thread, but I think here is better.

I disliked Mascherano's performance, in fact I thought he had a horrible game. Mind you, its not exactly his fault.

He can defend fine for a CB, that is now proven. However, with the ball, he is terrible. Anytime it isnt rolling to him perfectly, he has difficulty continuing passing moves. He did at least 7 long balls high in the air for no reason tonight and we suffered possession wise because of it.

The thing is, at centerback, he has more time on the ball, but that actually isnt a good thing for him. You see, when he plays DM, he is in more traffick and often he isnt facing the goal. He is side on or back to goal. Therefore, whenever he gets a pass the decision is already made for him, he has to pass it relatively quick because he knows he will get closed down and he doesnt have the ability to get out of it.

But at CB, he has inital time and he takes touches and has to make a decision. Now, if he wasnt pressed and allowed to just play it simple to the DM, RB or other CB we would be fine. But when we are pressed, you see the flaw.

The opponant will press up and mark the midfielders, then Dani Alves. The passes to these players are much harder and its not always possible to make them. The angle to the other centerback is now cut by a player and Mascherano has to make a decision. He doesnt have the ability of a Pique (or even an Abidal who has come on leaps and bounds at this) to dribble out and commit a defender to him, so he hoofs it long before he gets closed down.

The thing is, he wants to make a decision, but once that has been take away he doesnt have the ability to readjust and make another decision anything like often enough.

If say Pique has the ball and his option is cut of, he can improvise, change direction and look for another pass, if that is cut off he can dribble it out..he has many options because he is much more intellegant and has much better skill. Mascherano wants the first option and if it isnt there, he ends up launching it.

What is also worse, he takes longer to control balls (or he cant control them period so he hoofs it) so he ends up having less time on the ball in the first place.


I thought him playing further away from goal would be a plus offensively when he is at centerback and it can be. But if teams press us, it becomes a bigger problem.

After 30 minutes I was literally pleading for Busquets to be brought on.

Excellent post dani. A great read. I can't disagree with anything but at the same time I would like to say Mascherano played a vital role last night in making several last ditch clearances and a few of these tackles were really special.

I've said it before... as good as Abidal is on the ball, I want Masch to play mostly with Pique. If Masch is playing CB, we need a really elite ball-playing CB to help him, and this is Pique.

I was a bit frustrated, but I still don't think its much to worry about. We still defended fine and won despite the injuries. No Pique and Puyol will obviously mean a drop in quality.

the main problem last night was not masch but abidal.he does not look solid as a CB like last season.i am worried about the villareal game although i think busquets coming in for keita would make things a lot easier for masch and abi