Maradona’s main man http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5aad746e-d39e-11dd-989e-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1The wheel of fortune has turned full circle for footballer Javier Mascherano in two eventful years. The Argentine first arrived to play in England’s Premier League in 2006, hailed as one of the world’s best young midfielders after impressing during that year’s World Cup tournament. He thrives in the role traditionally known in his country as the “number five”, the holding position, and is even better suited to play as one half of a “double five”. But he struggled to find a role for his defensive midfield abilities at West Ham United, although, as he told me at the time, he had spotted one Premier League club displaying the tactical characteristics that he understood so well.
He said then:
“When a team plays with two midfielders one has to defend a bit more than the other. And one has to provide some balance. Logically, if they can take turns, that’s the best. Maybe I find Liverpool is the team where they can both do it. Like Xabi Alonso and [Steven] Gerrard, you know? When one is up front, the other can defend.”At West Ham he became more familiar with the reserves than the first team and it seemed the move to English football was doomed to flop. The clichés about differences in style between football cultures and the difficulty in adapting abounded. But then came the move to Liverpool, in January 2007, that put his career back on track.
Today the contrast with that rocky start in London’s East End could not be more marked. The controversy over the playing ownership of himself and fellow Argentine Carlos Tévez, involving West Ham and entrepreneur Kia Joorabchian, is behind him, he is firmly established in Liverpool’s team and last month he was appointed captain of Argentina by new national coach, the legendary Diego Maradona.
I ask him whether he imagined two years ago that Liverpool would indeed be the club where his luck changed? “No!” he laughs, “I honestly watched the way they played without imagining for a minute this is where I would end up.
“With regards to football I am really settled. I would say above all I have adapted,” and he stresses this concept as if aware that it is, for most South American players joining the Premier League, the biggest challenge.
But it is not just club fortunes that have turned for Mascherano. After a series of disappointing results with Argentina, a home defeat to neighbouring Chile in a World Cup qualifying match led to national manager Alfio “Coco” Basile’s resignation.
“We were all very surprised because at no point did we imagine Coco would resign,” says Mascherano. “Obviously things weren’t working out the way he had intended, nor the way we wanted them to. But it’s not the manager’s fault. The match against Chile was the last straw, I think, because they surpassed us in everything. We were all shattered by that result.”
But the surprises didn’t end there, for Basile’s shock replacement in November was none other than Maradona, who has barely any managerial experience. One of his first acts was to make Mascherano captain in time for a friendly international against Scotland in Glasgow, which Argentina won 1-0.
“Diego’s arrival was as exciting as it was surprising,” says Mascherano, letting out a little laugh and a sigh, a sign of admiration that is familiar when Argentine players discuss Maradona.
Luckily we won that first match against Scotland. We needed a good result,” he says. “It’s important, though, to take into account the fact that what’s going on in the World Cup qualifiers isn’t a catastrophe. We do have to improve in a number of ways but, actually, if you look at the tables coldly, we are on our way to qualifying.”
But how did he feel on being appointed captain and then lining up in the tunnel with the other Javier of the team, veteran “Pupi” Zanetti, who has captained Inter Milan for 14 years and has been one of the most emblematic captains of Argentina?
“I’m incredibly proud to have been asked to be captain. I don’t think my role on the pitch will change at all, however. I guess the most surprising thing is because I’m so young. At 24, I am kind of young to be captain.
“I can’t know the reasons why Diego asked me. These are managerial issues. He did tell me some of them and obviously I’m not going to repeat them. But, ultimately, it’s the manager’s call.”
For the present, though, all focus is back on Liverpool because there are no international duties until February when Argentina play a friendly against France, with World Cup qualifying resuming later in the year.
“We [liverpool] are top of the table and that’s where we want to stay,” he says. “It’s not easy but we have a good chance. Liverpool have been wanting to fight for the title for some years and we’re very well positioned right now. But there’s a long way to go yet.”
Does this feel like an amazing achievement? The contrast between his early turmoil at West Ham and where he is now? “The Spanish manager [Rafael Benítez] is a big help. And the Latin players. Expressing oneself is hard, even with a translator. At Liverpool, although we try to speak English in training, the truth is it’s very difficult to talk to the Spanish players in English.”
Mascherano has mastered enough English and is often praised for handling postmatch press conferences in the language. But he adds: “To be honest, life off the pitch I still find hard. I find it difficult living away from my country and the people I love.”
But on the pitch there is no doubt he has found his feet – a true “number five” that his countrymen can be proud of. “I think at Liverpool the manager knows very well what I can give and what he can expect of me. And my teammates have helped me so much,” he says. “But over and beyond changes in style I will always be a defensive midfielder. My role remains the same and I try to do the same every time I go out on the pitch.”
Diego in the bold lines speak real words 'cos Alonso & Gerrard both know how to defend or attack but they can't play both in the same occasion when they are the only centrel midfielders, when we play 4-5-1 with mascherano in the team they can 'cos mascherano can took the ball from every attacking player.
It is good that Javier is enjoying playing for us. I wish that javier's international duties will help him improve in many thing like to calm when the refree book him.
