by Kerry07 » Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:37 am
Mascherano is a world class defensive midfielder, captain of Argentina, rated at 30million and Barca have been on his tail since May.
As a destroyer, Masch needs to have a classy creative partner beside him for him to give the ball to... the perfect balance of ball winner + creator. We had that last season and Masch stated we simply couldnt lose Alonso...and thus break up the combination. Having lost Xabi (due to rafas notoriously weak manmanagement - the baby disgrace/then a summer hawking him around Europe) Masch then became disillusioned... he still is. Equally Gerrard looks down, and stated 2 weeks ago he was "devastated" Alonso had gone and made note of how clever Xabi was controlling midfield by making a pass, and then immediately ran into space to be open to recieve it again.. controlled midfield possession, as the pivot between defence and attack. Thats completely gone.... and its why pisspoor everton (1 win in 12) CONTROLLED midfield in the derby for the 1st time in over a decade.
If you dont control midfield, theres no platform, no connection, team is loose...defence and attack suffers bigtime.
While lucas gets pilloried by all the neutrals, more than because of his lack of talent and not having any real attribute (ie. no vision, no creativity, no passing range, slow, doesnt score, weak at tackling, gets over run and dominated) my biggest qualm with lucas is that he hides in not making himself open after making his customary short pass, and puts team mates in trouble who are then isolated and have no option. Possession breaks down, we lose the ball... hence our team possession stats have nosedived this season, the opposition now get far more of the ball, far more chances, more through balls... Reina and the back 4 have never been busier, as our midfield is loose and no longer have any composure or control.
From 86 points and QF of the CL... to out of the League race and CL in November, the devastation of losing the pivot in midfield, the link between defence and attack who sat as the deep playmaker infront of the back 4 and always took the ball off them, then pinged the ball to wide men/attackers, has been catastrophic for us.
The link player is THE most important on the field, and right now thats missing for us... Aquilani was the man to replace Alonso while his stop gap lucas has filled in, we must hope the Italian can deliver.
Last edited by
Kerry07 on Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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