Argentina and Mascherano on Eurosport...

[johe]

i dont think thats the role he has been earmarked for at arsenal. i think he will cover ground in midfield horizontally, rather than box to box. his energy will be directed at closing down angles and retrieving the ball like gilberto. at marsaille, he was played alongside meriem who is a very attacking midfielder.

I agree, in a way. Against Ajax he seemed to roam alot, giving support to both wingers, and letting Gilberto stay central. The CM's we currently have seem much more fixated in the centre than Flamini. Maybe it's a tactical aspect Wenger wants to bring to the team?

 

[patrick42uk]

patrick42uk are you watching the game? If yes, your thoughts?

yeah, saw mascherano also at the copa america. he is good at what he does, but i dont see a point signing him. cesc and flamini is the future partnership and i dont see why wenger would sign mascherano to disrupt that. mascherano hasnt shown me anything to suggest he is better than flamini. technically, flamini is better than mascherano IMO.

 

[bobbypires]

Argentina 6 Serbia & Montenegro 0
Mali 0 Mexico 0
Greece 2 South Korea 2
Tunisia 1 Australia 1

 

[GoonerGurjit]

Is Mascherano predominantly defensive minded or does he also have some attacking instincts?

 

[patrick42uk]

He's no where near as good as Vieira so i can't see the point of buying him, we need a player who is already accomplished at a high level, not a youngster.

no where near? how do you know?

he is nowehere near as good as vieira. he hasnt got that inspirational drive that vieira has, he hasnt got vieira's power and strength, he hasnt got vieira's tackling ability. heck, mascherano doesnt even make it past the half way line! he is a prospect, a good one at that, but not in vieira's role. i agree we need a more established, experienced, box to box player to replace vieira.

 

[MightyArsenal]

Xabi alonso..nuff said, attacking with a great shot on him and he also gets stuck in. Hes notfully there yet but with wengers help who knows.

 

[kel varnsen]

He's no where near as good as Vieira so i can't see the point of buying him, we need a player who is already accomplished at a high level, not a youngster.

no where near? how do you know?

he is nowehere near as good as vieira. he hasnt got that inspirational drive that vieira has, he hasnt got vieira's power and strength, he hasnt got vieira's tackling ability. heck, mascherano doesnt even make it past the half way line! he is a prospect, a good one at that, but not in vieira's role. i agree we need a more established, experienced, box to box player to replace vieira.

he's not as good as vieira, but nowhere near? he's a regular in one of the best national sides in the world and he had a fantastic copa america. i think he can become a fantastic player; even better than vieira.

if not mascherano, then who? xabi? twice the money and, imo, not better than mascherano. ballack? sure, but is he available? gerrard? overrated and way too prizy...

 

[johe]

Mascherano seems to me as more of a back-four protector like Gattuso than a Vieira kind of player. Xabi Alonso is very good, and I would not mind seeing him play with the no. 4 on his shirt if Vieira went. My only concern is that he could be a tad lightweight for the PL, but that can be trained. Ballack is more of an attacking midfielder anyway, and in that case he would have to play with Gilberto. Where would that leave Edu or Flamini? Carrick is very much like Parlour. Gritty, hard tackling, and not the best technically. He would be a good signing in my opinion.

 

[Chips&CurrySauce]

I saw bits and pieces of the game and Mascherano plays in exactly the same position as Gilberto, ie protecting the back 4. He doesn't look like a replacement to Vieira as they are different type of players, most likely he will provide competition to Gilberto. It is impossible to replace Vieira as there are no players in the world like him, so perhaps Wenger is planning to improve other aspects of our midfield ie the holding role. He certainly looks a good technical player and has an excellent range of passing, something Gilberto lacks..... Considering he is only 20 years old I think he could become a great player.

 

[quattro]

Considering he is only 20 years old I think he could become a great player.

that could be the strongest asset that might make him an ideal signing (which could be true for flamini as well). vieira was at the same age when he started here. we're not going to get an instant replacement for vieira straight from the store shelf. we will have to make another with the materials we can buy and tough tackling technically skilled physically strong 20 year old are good ingredients for the wenger assembly line.

 

[KingReyes]

He's no where near as good as Vieira so i can't see the point of buying him, we need a player who is already accomplished at a high level, not a youngster.

no where near? how do you know?

he is nowehere near as good as vieira. he hasnt got that inspirational drive that vieira has, he hasnt got vieira's power and strength, he hasnt got vieira's tackling ability. heck, mascherano doesnt even make it past the half way line! he is a prospect, a good one at that, but not in vieira's role. i agree we need a more established, experienced, box to box player to replace vieira.

I don't think anyone is as good as Vieira. The thing is what does Wenger plan to do with him if he's ever bought. Maybe Wenger plans to change tactics and feels this guy is part of that.

He is a PURE defensive midfielder as Pat said he doesn't get over the halfway line maybe Wenger is thinking this could protect us from counter attacks therefore giving our wingers more freedom to roam.

Also sometimes I think what was Vieira like before we bought him? Obviously he wasn't the player he is today but was his style the same. Was he more defensive minded and Wenger successfully made him more offensive?

 

[lex]

The BEST CM/DM midfilder in the world has to be Emerson that just joined juventus. i wish we bought him to replace viera who. emerson cost like 12 mill and that is veryyyy cheap for a player like that. he will replace him wirth ease . you wouldnt even miss patrick

 

[calvinngai88]

Emerson's overrated. Enough said.

 

[Mbaki Mutahaba]

emerson is good..but not even close to Vieira's level..well nobody is.

 

[tox]

gerrard. I would prefer him over Vieira.

 

[kel varnsen]

I watched this guy in Copa America (not him spesificly, as the arsenal link came later) and now again yesterday. That only made me sure my first impression of him was right. This guy is more a Gilberto 2, and if he is bought, I can't see it as a Vieira replacement. He will probably be more of a Gilberto cover man. Behind Gilberto, who do we have today that does his job in the midfield? No-one. The rest of our midfielders are more offensive than our invisible wall, Mascherano would be a perfect cover. The one thing that bugs me about this deal though, is the fact that he is a regular at Argentina. That would mean that we would miss 3 players in the same position for 4-5 games each season just because of games for their countries. Thats not an optimal thing to have to deal with every season. We would be left with Flamini and Cesc, and if one of those players is injured at that time, we would suddenly have a problem.

I would like it much better if Wenger would get someone in Europe this time around, at least when they get called up it fits the PL schedule. The South American and African call ups don't.

-Heiper-

i think mascherano and gilberto would form a great midfield. gilberto is very underrated going forward; he has some really penetrating runs(i.e. the goal last sunday!). playing together with mascherano, gilberto could be more offensive, knowing that mascherano would be there to cover him.