Javier Mascherano is arguably one of the best midfielders we’ve seen at Liverpool in the modern era but his time with the club wasn’t long or successful enough to be remembered as highly as other icons.

Speaking with Movistar Deportes Perú (translated) the 39-year-old reflected on signing for the Reds: “When I realised that I wasn’t playing [for West Ham], my idea was to leave in the winter market and I don’t know how Rafa Benítez found out that I was going to leave but he contacted me.

“One day he came to my apartment in London to convince me to sign for Liverpool, because I was already thinking about leaving England, he stopped me. In the talk we had, I remember that we were sitting on a sofa and there was a table with pebbles, he began to explain to me with the pebbles where I had to play.

READ MORE: (Video) Liverpool fans will be interested to hear Bernardo Silva’s comments on title rivals’ dropped points

“He was clear and he told me that what I could give to the team, none of those who were already in the squad could. I thought about it for a week and finally the transfer was finalised. Luckily I made a great decision, because four months later we were was playing in a Champions League final with Milan in Athens.”

It’s an interesting though to see Rafa Benitez arriving at the door of the Argentine to try and convince him on a move to Merseyside, soon using pebbles to show how he wanted the West Ham man to perform for his team.

It was a master stroke by the Spaniard though and the whole squad were unlucky to not end that campaign with a Champions League winners’ medal in hand.

You can watch Mascherano’s comments (from 6:32) via Movistar Deportes Perú on YouTube:

EOTK Insider with Jan Age Fjortoft: Why Alonso said no to LFC, who will replace Klopp now? The PL winners will be…

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Liverpool supporters of every age are fortunate to have Champions League or European Cup final memories and Rafa Benitez shared his thoughts on one of the lesser spoken about matches, against AC Milan in Athens.

Speaking on the ‘We are Liverpool’ podcast, the Spaniard explained why the Reds lost in 2007: “In Athens, we lost because I changed Mascherano for Crouch. Not because of [playing Crouch] but because we left a gap, Mascherano was in the position where normally there is a second striker is around but we lost this control and then they [AC Milan] play behind the defenders and Inzaghi scores [the second goal]…

“Some people say to me: ‘Why didn’t you play a striker and you brought on a full-back in the last few minutes in Athens?’ – because we were attacking and they were deep, we had to make crosses to regain the ball, not put more people there [in the box]”.

READ MORE: (Video) “There’s so much space” – Courtois on how Real targeted Liverpool’s high press

This may not come as welcome news to Peter Crouch who has seemingly been pointed out here as a man who was at fault for our defeat but it’s obvious that the 62-year-old is blaming himself for making a more offensive change.

Many wanted our side to have been more attacking in the game but these two reasons mentioned by our former manager show that he clearly doesn’t agree with that opinion.

You can watch Benitez’s thoughts on Athens (from 32:48) via Liverpool FC on YouTube:

40% of Liverpool’s summer loans failed – what’s happened to the club’s loan system?

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There were many Liverpool supporters that were hoping Ibou Konate could secure a World Cup final victory but there was one former Red that couldn’t help but share his joy after Argentina clinched the much coveted trophy.

Taking to his Twitter account Javier Mascherano said: ‘Yesssss!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!! THANK YOU ETERNALLY GUYS’.

The 38-year-old made 147 appearances for his nation before retiring in 2018 and would have been so desperate to have secured this trophy for his compatriots during his playing days but it doesn’t sound like he’s too upset with watching as a fan.

READ MORE: (Video) Ibou Konate’s crunching tackle on Lautaro Martinez in World Cup final

Along with Maxi Rodriguez, Emiliano Insua, Mauricio Pellegrino and Sebastian Leto, our former No.20 is one of just five Argentines to have played for the Reds and they all would have shared great joy in watching Lionel Messi lift the famous trophy aloft.

For our No.5 though, it’s the sad reality that he has missed out on the Premier League, Champions League and World Cup in the space of a few months.

Let’s hope that the 23-year-old can bounce back from this upset and that he will be able to once again show to the world just how brilliant he is.

For now, it’s Jurgen Klopp and the rest of his Anfield teammates’ job to raise his spirits and get the Frenchman ready for a busy second part of the campaign.

You can view Mascherano’s post via his Twitter account:

Siiiiiiiii!!!
CAMPEONES DEL MUNDO!!!!
GRACIAS ETERNAS MUCHACHOS.

— Javier Mascherano (@Mascherano) December 18, 2022

Exclusive: Every word of our Sofyan Amrabat interview with Аnas Bakhkhar – will the Moroccan sign for the Reds?

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Thiago played with Javier Mascherano between 2010 and 2013, before he switched to Bayern Munich, and has today sent his former team-mate a message on Twitter following the Argentine’s retirement.

Masche enjoyed a glittering career, part of the arguably the best club side of all time and winner of 147 caps – an incredible achievement.

Thiago’s tweet translates as: What a career, Masche. And how it was to learn by your side. Good luck!

Qué carrera, Masche. Y qué aprendizaje a tu lado. Mucha suerte @Mascherano ! https://t.co/TDnsa42jAS

— Thiago Alcantara (@Thiago6) November 17, 2020

Thiago arrived at Liverpool in the summer to enormous fanfare, but has so far played just 135 minutes of football.

In that time, he’s been jaw-droppingly good, but a positive COVID-19 test and an injury suffered at the hands of Richarlison have caused a frustrating absence.

We really hope he’ll be fit to face Leicester City on Sunday, as we could badly do with his midfield influence given our array of injuries all over the field right now.

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Former Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has recently been asked about his love for Barcelona and the Reds.

The Argentine may have surprised a few when he said that he would “choose Liverpool”, given he spent the majority of his career with the Catalan club.

Liverpool fans would have forgiven him too – a young lad growing up in South America probably dreams of playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid.

But that doesn’t matter because the Reds have a place in Mascherano’s heart – the hard-tackling midfielder said that Liverpool are currently the best team in the world, and that he feels something special for us.

“I obviously have a lot of love for Barcelona, I spent the best years of my career there but I would chose Liverpool,” he told CNN (translated by LFC Transfer Room).

“I feel something special for them. Yes, right now is the best in the world, Liverpool represents me a lot.”

It’s incredible that a player of Mascherano’s stature can say that we’re his favourite club in Europe, after spending most of his career with perhaps the most popular club in the Spanish-speaking world.

To be fair, we probably should have expected this as there has been a few times that Javier has Tweeted during Liverpool games – the messages are usually short and to the point, but he makes it known that he’s watching his former club.

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Former Liverpool man Javier Mascherano was clearly taken aback by an incredible performance from Trent Alexander-Arnold, as the Reds smashed Leicester City 4-0.

The right back was involved in all four goals, and managed to bag himself in a rare occasion, and his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by the big hitters in the media circles.

The Argentine took to Twitter and simply Tweeted the full back’s surname – I guess we’re to assume he was left speechless – fair enough!

Alexander-Arnold

— Javier Mascherano (@Mascherano) December 26, 2019

Mascherano spent a number of years at Liverpool, and as part of the ‘best midfield in the world’ with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, but he left for Barcelona not too long into his career at Anfield.

It’s been a while since Stevie, but it now appears that we have another world class Scouser in our team.

In Trent, Liverpool may just have the best offensive full back in the world – his assists in the Premier League and Champions League over the last three years speak for themselves.

The most terrifying thing about the Scouser in our team is that he’s actually only going to get better! If he just keeps up his current form over the next few years, we’ll be witnessing greatness.

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Alberto Aquilani was brought to Liverpool as a replacement for Xabi Alonso, the Italian had big shoes to fill, but it didn’t work out.

Aquilani was revered as one of the most up and coming midfielders in Europe in 2009 and was considered hot property, so soon after their World Cup triumph, Italian footballers had high stock.

The now 34-year-old has spoken with Gianluca Di Marzio about his career and explained how he rejected offers from Chelsea and Arsenal to join the Reds.

“It was difficult,” Aquilani said. “I was going to England, in a cold city, an important change, but I played with incredible players. [Fernando] Torres, [Javier] Mascherano, [Dirk] Kuyt.”

Aquilani smiled when he was prompted to talk about Steven Gerrard. “One of the greatest I’ve played with. The fact that he was there influenced a lot, I’m not hiding it, he’s a champion,” he said.

Anfield was the Italian’s preferred destination as he turned down a host of European giants. “Every year I received important offers, I said no to Inter and Juventus, with Roma we would decline everything,” he said.

According to campionatoprimavera.com, Aquilani was offered contracts by both Arsenal and Chelsea when he was 17-years-old but wanted to fulfil his boyhood dream of playing for Roma.

“[The year I joined Liverpool] I was injured, Roma had economic problems and had to make an important sale. [Mirko] Vucinic and I had several offers, so we went.

“I hadn’t played for months, I had hurt myself, everything made me think that my adventure in Rome had come to an end. They were forced to sell me, but he didn’t kick me out. I want to reiterate it.

“I was 23, I was very young, my mother would come up and cook amatriciana. [Federico] Macheda was also there, playing at United and we were there. We were Romans repatriated, we spoke in dialect, we were happy.”

Maybe in another life Aquilani could have been a success at Liverpool, he was good enough to somewhat replace Alonso and could have done a job with Stevie, but it wasn’t to be.

The Italian was loaned out twice, to Milan and Juventus, before Fiorentina put in an offer of £1.7million which was accepted by the Reds and his bad dream was over.

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Roy Hodgson isn’t fondly remembered by the Anfield faithful; the league’s oldest manager spent six months with the Reds in the 2010/11 season after leaving Fulham.

Fernando Torres left us for Chelsea shortly after Hodgson’s departure and, in 2016, he opened up on his time with Liverpool. Comments taken from Simon Hughes’ book ‘Ring of Fire’ – published by the Anfield Wrap – are very honest.

“It was a pity because Hodgson was a great coach and a great guy,” Torres said. “They didn’t let him work. They brought in all these Australian people [a new medical team] who controlled everything: who could play, who could not.

“He wasn’t able to use the players the way he wanted. From that pre-season to the January when I left, it was a nightmare. Not just for me but for everybody, for Hodgson too.

“He was not allowed to work properly — the situation was more difficult for him than it was for anyone else. Everything was a mess. We were not good enough. In the middle of that, they finally sold the club.”

El Nino is talking about Liverpool’s owners at the time, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and the Spaniard was concerned that the Reds were losing too many of their star players.

Xabi Alsono, Alvaro Arbeloa and Sami Hyypia all left in Rafael Benitez’s last season at Liverpool and Albert Riera, Diego Cavalieri and Javier Mascherano were sold in Roy’s first transfer window at the club.

Hodgson left us in January 2011 and with signings like Joe Cole, Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen it’s not hard to see why it didn’t go to plan for Roy on Merseyside.

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Michael Edwards is enjoying somewhat of a cult hero status amongst Liverpool fans at the minute – details of the club’s Sporting Director’s dealings have been a hit.

Managing to sell Dom Solanke for close to £20million 18 months after the club signed him – with just one goal to speak of – speaks wonders.

With the money obtained from the sale of Phil Coutinho last year Liverpool invested it back into the squad and picked up Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker for roughly the same amount.

Alisson, van Dijk and the rest of the defence have amassed an impressive 17 clean sheets – the highest in the Premier League this season.

But it’s Edwards’ latest stunt, revealed by the Express, that Reds fans will be lapping up – inserting a special clause during the Coutinho negotiations that especially annoyed Barcelona.

The aforementioned clause demands a premium Barcelona will HAVE to pay if they try to sign another Liverpool player in the next two years.

This premium translates to – at least – another £89million for any Reds player that Barcelona are interested in buying – this decision comes after losing Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez and Coutinho to the Catalan giants in recent years.

So if Barca want Sadio Mane, for example, he’ll cost whatever asking price we put on his head – plus another £89m.

This is welcome news as Liverpool currently have some of the best players of their positions on the planet – and Barca won’t be in the running for any of them.

Real Madrid might try to have a look at some point, but are they genuinely a more attractive proposition than us right now?

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Alisson went level with Javier Mascherano last night on 15 Premier League matches unbeaten at the beginning of a Liverpool career.

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The Brazilian has yet to lose a match in the top flight and can break the record of any new Liverpool signing in the Premier League era if we remain undefeated on Saturday lunchtime v Bournemouth.

Stats guru Andrew Beasley tweeted as much this morning:

Interesting trivia from ⁦@StatsZone⁩: Alisson is unbeaten in his opening 15 PL matches at Liverpool, equalling Mascherano's club record (PL era). New record set at Bournemouth?

— Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) December 6, 2018

Mascherano arrived midway through the 2006/07 season under Rafa Benitez, when Liverpool were enjoying a great run.

Alisson though has been tremendous from Day One since arriving at the club.

Last night, he made a world-class save in the final minutes, before setting us on the counter-attack which ended up in Xherdan Shaqiri’s match winner.

Against Everton on Sunday, Alisson kept Andre Gomes’s effort of his net, against the odds, and played a role in our winner as well.

He was incredibly expensive, but we’d suggest he was worth every penny, and some.

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• Barcelona confirm Javier Mascherano is to leave the club this month
• Argentine set for move to Chinese Super League side
• Liverpool fans had been hopeful of deal to re-sign former midfielder
• SEE MORE: Reliable journo reveals truth behind viral €18m Liverpool rumour

Liverpool fans have seen their hopes of re-signing Javier Mascherano dashed by news of his confirmed move to China.

The Argentine will leave Barcelona this month after eight seasons at the Nou Camp, in which time he has won 18 trophies and played 334 games.

Mascherano will join Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune FC on 26 January, an official Barcelona club statement has confirmed.

The agreement puts rumours to bed linking the 33-year-old to a return to Anfield, where he made 139 appearances in his spell as a Red between 2007 and 2010.

He emerged as a popular figure during his time on Merseyside, impressing fans with his fierce approach as an enforcer in Liverpool’s star-studded midfield.

Since moving to Spain, Mascherano has evolved into a viable centre-back option courtesy of his defensive capabilities and well-suited ability to play out from the back.

With doubts continuing to loom over Liverpool’s defensive frailties, a number of supporters had encouraged an unlikely move to bolster Jurgen Klopp’s options with the veteran’s Premier League experience.

That hasn’t been the case, however, with Mascherano deciding to enjoy potentially the final couple of years of his career in an arguably more laid back and pressure-free environment- not to mention one where a deserved big pay day inevitably awaits.

The post Liverpool hopes of hijacking transfer are crushed by official announcement appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

• Barcelona offer Liverpool chance to re-sign Javier Mascherano
• Argentine midfielder played for Reds between 2006-2010
• Mascherano linked with January exit having been restricted to limited game time
• SEE MORE: Alberto Moreno gives brutally honest opinion on Sevilla collapse

Liverpool will be given the chance to bolster their midfield ranks with a familiar face when the January transfer window opens.

The Reds have been linked to a move for the out-of-favour Javier Mascherano, with the Barcelona star having been limited to just six La Liga appearances so far this season.

Despite Mascherano having two years left on his current deal in Spain, Liverpool have been offered first refusal on a deal to sign the 33-year-old this winter, according to TEAMtalk.

The experienced Argentine was a popular figure during his time Anfield, emerging as a formidable midfield enforcer in his 139 appearances for the club.

Since making the switch to the Nou Camp in 2010, Mascherano has won four La Liga titles, two Champions League titles, and two FIFA Club World Cups, as well as moulding into a viable centre-back option.

Barcelona offering Mascherano back to the Reds seems a likely attempt to butter up Liverpool over a possible deal for Philippe Coutinho.

The Catalan giants look set to make another offer for the Brazilian come the turn of the year, having seen three bids rejected during the summer.

Coutinho lodged a formal transfer request a day before the new Premier League season, but saw his efforts come to no avail when club owners Fenway Sports Group insisted he would not be sold for any price.

Mascherano marks the latest in a long line of Barcelona stars to be linked with Liverpool, although he represents perhaps the most likely case given his history with the club.

Tuesday night’s shambolic collapse against Sevilla served as a reminder of the need for greater protection for the back four, not to mention leadership.

The fact Mascherano promises both could make him an intriguing option if reports of his availability are true.

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• Reports say Messi is scared his friend Mascherano will leave
• Liverpool touted as possible destination
• At EOTK, we think the story is nonsense…
• SEE MORE: Javier Mascherano is leaving Barcelona; Should Liverpool step in…?

There’s a dubious report doing the rounds today that says Lionel Messi is worried his countryman Javier Mascherano will leave for Liverpool upon the expiration of his contract next summer…

The Express have gone with it, although it started in Spain with Diario Gol – not the most respected of publications.

The story suggests that Messi has accepted his friend’s departure to Liverpool – although this doesn’t really make any sense – when PSG or the MLS are far more likely destinations.

The 33-year-old will be leaving Barca, but we doubt Jurgen Klopp would sign a veteran on big wages over a younger, hungrier holding midfielder.

“The focus is to be happy and the decision I make will depend on how things are going,” Mascherano told TyC Sports.

“In Barcelona, it is obvious I am not playing at the frequency I played before. 

“I’m still playing, I’m still competing, I’m in a team where every game I play is because I earn it in training, but it’s clear there are many times you want to play more.

“I’m not saying that I have to play more, because the starters are two players of the highest level and there is not much more to do there.”

At EOTK, we’d love a player of Mascherano’s ilk in our midfield, as back in 2007, he was an instrumental cog in Rafa Benitez’s side.

Now though, he’s past his best, although part of us is still romanticising about his potential return.

With Emre Can leaving on a free himself, we do need to buy a batting central midfielder – so it’ll be very interesting to see who Klopp turns to.

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Javier Mascherano wasn’t at Liverpool for too long, but he was the most talented holding midfielder we’ve had in the Premier League era bar none.

The feisty Argentine was a star in 2008/09 when Liverpool fought the title, but left in 2010 when Barcelona came knocking.

SEE MORE:
(Video) Luis Suarez fumes at Mascherano in training – kicks out at giggling team-mate

For the Spaniards, he’s won everything available to him, but according to SPORT, is leaving at the end of the season upon the expiration of his contract.

He currently doesn’t start matches for Barca at centre-back, because of Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti.

For us though, he’s proven with Argentina that he’s still a very good holding midfielder – despite being aged 33.

SPORT reckon he’s lined up for a move to MLS, but we’d happily take him for a year at Liverpool on a free transfer.

He offers genuine high level experience and the kind of battling qualities we’ve lacked since his departure.

Imagine Mascherano holding with the effort and talents of Naby Keita and one other beside him…

Something that if we were Liverpool, we’d at least look into. Not as a defender, but a sitting midfielder.

The post Javier Mascherano is leaving Barcelona; Should Liverpool step in…? appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Javier Mascherano has retired from international duty, with the 32-year-old calling time on his Argentina career after losing their third final in as many years.

The Liverpool legend – who was at the club from 2007-2010 – has followed Lionel Messi into retirement (via the Daily Mail), with the Barcelona duo shocking the world after the Copa America final.

Mascherano tampoco continuará en la Selección Argentina. pic.twitter.com/IBVcypxfiP

— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) June 27, 2016

Despite being just 29-years-old, Messi has retired from the international team after yet another failure in the Copa America. He claimed his goal with Argentina was to win, and their inability to do that has contributed to his decision.

Mascherano is yet to make an announcement on his retirement, but his advanced years plus Argentina’s struggles are no doubt the main contributing factors. He’d be 34 by the time the next World Cup comes around, and clearly he feels now is the right time to step down.

The Barcelona defender has been a key player for Argentina over the last few years, and his exit will certainly be a problem for them. The report suggests a number of players could follow Messi and Mashcerano into retirement, so we could see the dissolution of this current Argentina side.

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Fee agreed! Sadio Mane Liverpool medical announced

It’s unclear whether both players were planning to retire regardless of whether they were to win or lose, but the fact that they missed out on yet another Copa America title after losing on penalties to the holders, Chile, may well have played a part.

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