THE best thing to do with Javier Mascherano now is to move on – and forget about him.

I think Roy Hodgson’s insistence that he still sees him as part of his plans is all very well for putting a public face on it all.

But privately he has to prepare his squad for a season without the Argentinean.

Even if he did end up staying at Liverpool, his dissatisfaction with the situation would only lead to him getting sent off and having a detrimental effect on the team.

You can bang on all you want about Mascherano’s behaviour in refusing to play in the Manchester City game but it’s gone on before.

If a player doesn’t want to play for you, the best thing to do is get the best price you can and forget they exist.

It has to be said, however, that I don’t think Mascherano’s presence would have made a great deal of difference to the result at Manchester City on Monday.

Lucas has played enough games now to know what he is doing, but the game merely underlined the areas where Hodgson needs to strengthen,

He needs a left-back and another striking option at the very least.