It’s been a long time coming, but it would appear that the menacing, destructive and ubiquitous force that is Javier Mascherano’s time at Liverpool is sadly drawing to a tumultuous close, after the player is said to have informed the Liverpool board of his intention to leave the club this summer after signalling that he sees his future best served away from Anfield, with a potential reunion with former manager Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan on the cards. So who could possibly replace the menacing pit-bull? Let’s look at the options.
Scott Parker – The rumour doing the rounds at the moment is that Roy Hodgson has earmarked West Ham’s Scott Parker as his replacement. The fee would remain a sticking point, with the Hammers demanding £15 for the main man, and while this is obviously negotiable to an extent, the player will be 30 years old in October and his age and potential wages have to be accounted for. The only real concern should not be the player’s quality, but the fee involved and with West Ham placing a rather inflated, even by English standards, price tag on his head, the player may have to push for a change of scenery for any potential move to occur. Parker is a personal favourite of mine and I’d have had him starting in the England side at this summer’s World Cup over that old trollope Gareth Barry. Parker is a box-to-box midfielder and while that sound bite is normally reserved for energetic centre midfielders of little talent, in Parker’s case at least, the label is entirely true and he makes a mockery of the tag being attributed to the likes of Kevin Nolan, Lucas Leiva and Jermaine Jenas. His acquisition will also come in handy given his nationality in conforming to new UEFA and Premiership rules regarding quotas of home grown players allowed in your squad. He was a driving force in ensuring West Ham achieved Premiership survival last term, he’s fearless in the tackle, decent on the ball and has a Thunderbirds meets Cockney geezer side parting – what’s not to like?
Rating – 9/10
Tiago – The former Chelsea midfielder has been strongly linked with a move back to the Premiership this summer after being frozen out of Serie A giants Juventus’s plans. He was sent on loan to Atletico Madrid last January, where he was able to start 18 league games and compete in the Copa Del Rey final. He was also a rare bright spark in a faltering Portuguese campaign at this summer’s World Cup and he has an excellent range of passing. What may count against him are his former ties with bitter rivals Chelsea and a certain blatant handball. At 29 years of age, Tiago has had a long and pretty distinguished career but he’s not a commanding presence in the middle of the park, which is what is needed at this present time, and any move for Tiago is in all likelihood, is only destined to be a short-term switch.
Rating – 6/10
Gilberto Silva – Speaking of short-term switches, former Arsenal enforcer Gilberto Silva has been strongly linked with a return to our fair shores. At 33 years of age, 34 in October, Gilberto is no spring chicken, and if memory serves me correctly, he was truly awful in his final season at Arsenal, lacking the engine to get around the park anymore, as well as being poor in possession and constantly dragged out of position, so it’s no wonder he swapped the hustle and bustle of the Premiership for the sunnier climes of Panathanaikos in Greece, and with it, assured Champions League football and semi-retirement. Gilberto to his credit, did look decent at this summer’s World Cup, and would most definitely represent a cheaper option, but a move for him smacks of a lack of ambition, a regression and just the sort of signal the club doesn’t want to send out a week after clinching the signing of Joe Cole. Swapping Gilberto Silva for Masceherano is like swapping an Aston Martin for an Austin Allegro, and the thought of two clueless Brazilians operating in Liverpool’s engine room next term is enough to turn even the hardiest of stomachs.
Rating – 3/10
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Anatoliy Tymoschuk – The Ukrainian has endured a nightmarish time in Germany with champions Bayern Munich and with manager Louis Van Gaal going on record as stating that the holding man would be best served looking elsewhere for first-team football, going on to highlight an impenetrable route into the first team of the partnership of club Captain Mark Van Bommel and the in-form Bastian Schweinsteiger, and it would appear on the surface of things that a deal can be done, and cheaply to boot. The 31 year old would most probably only be a stop gap option, due to his age, but it would seem from what Van Gaal has stated that he’d be available either on loan or for a lot cheaper than the £12m that he cost Bayern last summer. Brutal in the tackle, a fierce competitor and a leader with a wealth of experience, the scrappy midfielder could be an able replacement for Mascherano, for the time being at least and he was instrumental in Zenit St Petersburg’s 2008 UEFA Cup win. One concession I would make to any such deal though, would be that he arrives with at least one other central midfielder so as to enable a sharing of the burden.
Rating – 7/10
Sulley Muntari – Another player on the fringes of first team action at the current club, Sulley Muntari also has experience of the Premiership after thriving at Portsmouth in happier times for the club in the 2007/8 Premiership season. Sold to Inter Milan for around £13m in the summer of 2008, after an initial bright start in his first season in Italy, he found first-team opportunities harder to come by at the European champions last season with the arrivals of Thiago Motta and Wesley Sneijder pushing him further down the pecking order. A combatitive midfielder to say the least, it’s safe to say that the Ghanaian midfielder isn’t scared to put his foot in, and whilst this is a commendable attribute, especially when replacing a player such as Mascherano, he lacks positional discipline and has a penchant for getting into bother both on and off the field. He has the ability to play holding man role, although not in the same manner as Mascherano and with a point to prove, in a league he excelled in and suits his natural game, it could be a win/win situation. He has been rumoured to be used as a makeweight in any potential deal involving Mascherano to Inter, and as long as the club get 20m as well as Muntari, then a move for him would represent a sound piece of business and at just 25 years of age, he could be signed with a long-term vision in mind, something which you could hardly boast of his rivals mentioned above so far.
Rating – 8/10
Cristian Poulsen – The Danish international is another player on Juve’s books looking for a lifeboat out of the Turin giants proverbial sinking ship, after failing to win over the affections of the fans and board of the Old Lady, and he could be available for as little as £6m. Poulsen is a steady hand on the tiller if you will, simple and unfussy on the ball, positionally excellent and with a fiery temper, he’s as menacing in the tackle as Mascherano has ever been. On top form, Poulsen can be a commanding presence in the middle of the park, and after successful spells in Germany with Schalke and Sevilla in Spain, he’s shown, barring his current spell with Juventus at least, that he’s capable of adapting to the rigours of a new league and the Premiership could suit his style of play down to the ground.
Rating – 8/10
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Felipe Melo – It’s a sad indictment of the Juventus’s board’s planning that three of their central midfielders occupy this list, and that all the club are willing to listen to offers for all three of them. Melo was having a fine World Cup with Brazil this summer, putting a terrible first season with his new club behind him, where he was unofficially voted the worst player in Serie A last term after receiving the Golden Bin award, until the quarter-final defeat to finalists Holland. Melo scored an own goal and then, much like his manager and the rest of the team it has to be said, proceeded to lose his head and was sent off for a shocking stamp on Arjen Robben. The occasion got to him and he was shown up as being mentally fragile. He is being seen as symptomatic of his current club’s ills and to an extent has been used as a scapegoat for their recent failings, and while harsh, he has more than played his part in his club and country’s respective downfalls this year, and so the Turin club are once again willing to cut their losses on the former Arsenal target with Juve director Bepper Marotta stating that the club are “carefully evaluating the situation and will listen to any offers that come in.” Signed from Fiorentina last summer with a burgeoning reputation for a hefty fee of around the £22m mark, Melo has seriously disappointed and could be available for as little as £10m. Melo has a intimidating physical presence and although not the best on the ball, he can retain possession effectively while providing a decent shield in front of the back four. At 27 years of age, a move to a different league could benefit Melo, but whether it should be at Liverpool, I’m not so sure. The club, although undoubtedly in dire financial straits cannot afford to turn itself into a rehabilitation centre for formerly decent players, and perhaps with Melo at least, it’s a deal they should stay clear of for the time being, as he may find the pace of the league difficult to cope with.
Rating – 6/10
Gokhan Inler – The 26 year old Swiss international midfielder is not your archetypal holding man, and can be seen as less of a destructive Mascherano sort, but more in the mould of a Xabi Alonso. The Udinese man’s reputation has sky rocketed in recent seasons after forcing his way into the national team set up after some great form in Serie A. The Swiss national side are famed for being stringent in defence after they went the whole of the 2006 World Cup without conceding a goal, and they carried on this rich vein of defensive form at this summer’s World Cup and they managed to concede just the one goal this time around with Inler operating and pulling strings from the middle. He wouldn’t come cheap, and the rumoured former Arsenal target could cost up to between £12-15m, but at 26 years of age, he’d make a sound investment for the long term.
Rating – 8/10
Well there you have it; it’s my contention that Scott Parker is probably the best option available at the moment although Muntari, Poulsen and Tymoschuk offer very good alternatives to Mascherano in keeping with both the budget available and the role that they’ll go onto perform. Inler, as mentioned above, although capable of doing the donkey work, has much more guile and creativity about his natural game, and should we see a shift towards a more passing fluent style, something not completely out of the realms of possibility given the way Hodgson’s team’s have lined up in the past, then he would be a viable alternative.
So what does everyone else think? Who would you like ideally to replace Mascherano given the financial constraints and the choice of those realistically available?
Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer
