PSV EINDHOVEN beware. Rafael Benitez is ready to unleash the man Diego Maradona calls the ‘monster’ this evening.
With Momo Sissoko suspended, Javier Mascherano is expected to add the bite to Liverpool’s midfield for their Champions League quarter-final first leg tie in Holland.
It will be the Argentine’s debut in the competition and another significant step in a career in England that was teetering on the brink until Benitez offered to take the midfielder from West Ham United during the January transfer window.
But it was only after a lengthy period of negotiations with first FIFA and then the Premier League that Mascherano’s move was finally ratified.
Now, after an outstanding performance in the 4-1 thumping of Arsenal on Saturday, the feisty midfielder is beginning to justify Benitez’s patience and persistence in capturing his signature – and live up to Maradona’s glowing assessment.
“Of all the youngsters to have come through in recent years, the one who impresses me most is Javier Mascherano,” he said. “He is a monster of a player and destined for great things.”
That was three years ago, soon after Mascherano had progressed through the Argentine youth ranks at such pace that he made his debut for the full national side before he’d even appeared in the first team for his club side River Plate.
Although last summer’s World Cup showcased his abilities, Benitez reckons the determination to prove he can still be a success in England is now a major motivating factor for the player.
“When we signed Mascherano, I said he was a winner, a player with a good mentality,” says the Liverpool manager. “He has 20 caps with Argentina and is only 22-years-old, and that means a lot. When you think about the same figures in England, not a lot of players have 20 caps at his age, and Argentina is a fantastic national team.
“He has experience and character, he wanted to play and wanted to show people he was good enough to play in England, and that was a key to us.
“I think on Saturday people could see that he is a very good player. He was training really well during the week and I was sure he would play well.
“He can settle things down and he can keep the possession, is always in a good position, and when the team play well with the wingers and the holding midfielders play well, then the strikers can score goals.”
As against Arsenal at the weekend, Mascherano should line up alongside Xabi Alonso in central midfield, with Steven Gerrard expected to move on to the right flank.
“We knew when we were trying to bring Mascherano here that we needed another holding midfielder just in case Xabi couldn’t play,” says Benitez. “Against Arsenal, we could play with both and we gave freedom to the wingers and to Gerrard in front of the two midfielders, and it was a solution.”
