Mascherano is a legend

[carlton]

Another fair and balanced article about the Manager. The 'hate Rafa' crowd are going to love this one.

[stevie_gerrard_8]

Legend!

[Kenneth]

He's ****ing great isn't he. He'd walk in to any team in the world. Him and Torres are the only highlights of this season so far.

EDIT: Oh, and Momo leaving, that's another one.

[Reece]

Let's not go overboard on him though, don't forget according to Charlie Nicholas Diarra at Portsmouth is better than him.

[rage]

reina, agger, masch, gerrard and torres without a shadow of a doubt would walk into any team in the world.

masch is really growing on me, his ability to cover ground, keep it simple and never give up attitude is refreshing.

[cled the red]

Let's not go overboard on him though, don't forget according to Charlie Nicholas Diarra at Portsmouth is better than him.

I could write what Charlie Nicholas knows about football on the back of a stamp!!:whatever:

[The_weatherman]

Javier Mascherano: I'd die for Liverpool to get Inter Milan win
David Maddock19/02/2008

Javier Mascherano insists he is ready to die to get the result that will breathe life into Liverpool's season.

The Argentine comes up against international team-mates Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso and Julio Cruz when Inter Milan arrive at Anfield tonight for a game that will shape the English club's immediate future.

Not only is manager Rafael Benitez's job on the line in the Champions League showdown, but the future of many of his players could also be decided by the contest with the Italian champions.

Victory is a daunting task, with skipper Steven Gerrard admitting his side will have to produce the game of their lives to overcome opponents who lead Serie A by 11 points.

But Mascherano is ready to put not only his reputation but his body on the line as he looks for the result that will ease the pressure at beleaguered Liverpool and allow him the last laugh over his fellow countrymen.

"I would die to try to get my team a win in this game. They are my team-mates for my country but my job is to stop Inter Milan's players," said Mascherano.

"When I play for Liverpool, I don't have any friends in the opposing side.

"When I go out on to the pitch, when I get my mind into playing mode, I forget about everything except winning. I will die to try and get my team a win.

"If that means getting myself between the ball and people who are friends off the pitch, then that is just the way it is." Mascherano will certainly need a night of inspiration if Liverpool are to ease the pressure on their under-fire manager, after a season that promised so much but has so far delivered little.

Inter are massive favourites to secure a third successive Italian title, and are also in the mood to end their 43-year wait to lift the European Cup. The omens are not good for Benitez as he goes into a game which could well decide his future as the pressure for change at Anfield grows to an almost unstoppable momentum.

At present there is a power vacuum within the club, with talks continuing over a possible sale by Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks to Sheikh Mohammed's DIC group, but whoever owns Liverpool is likely to want a fresh manager in place unless there is a real sign of progress.

With disastrous defeat at the hands of Barnsley in the FA Cup that can only come in the Champions League and, according to skipper Gerrard, Inter present possibly the toughest hurdle his side could have faced.

"To get the kind of result we need we are going to have to turn in maybe our best 90 minutes of the season. It is going to have to be one of those great performances," he said,

"They are a fantastic side. You have to be, to be so far ahead in the Italian league, as they are at the moment. They are odds-on to make it three titles in a row and that's a fantastic achievement for them.

"We will need to take our chances against them, and that's been one of the frustrations of the season for us. We have dominated games and created lots of good clear sights of goal, and we haven't taken them.

"It's not just about the strikers, it's the whole team who have been missing those opportunities and we have to change that."

Gerrard knows the Anfield leg of this tie is crucial. The Reds must give themselves a lead to defend in the passionate atmosphere of the San Siro.

Against the Italian side's glittering array of talent, that could prove a mountainous task, and the England star admitted: "We need to make a good start to get us up for the trip to Italy.

"The San Siro isn't a place where you want to be chasing a result. In a perfect world we would score a couple of goals and keep it tight.

"But Inter don't concede many goals and they have got great players all over the pitch. So we will have to play well, we know that, and this is the type of game we normally respond in."

Benitez faces a dilemma in his selection as he attempts to restore the punctured confidence of his side, following the 2-1 defeat by Barnsley.

Inter are weak at fullback, and he could be tempted to play two wingers to provide crosses for Peter Crouch, but his cautious instincts suggest he will swamp the midfield and look to take a narrow lead to Italy. Only Andriy Voronin and Daniel Agger are unavailable as he picks from a full squad.

THREE INTER PLAYERS TO WATCH

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC

Ibrahimovic is an explosive talent, who can control games but equally can disappear without trace if he is not in the mood. He packs tremendous shooting power, can be brilliant with the ball at his feet and is a deadly finisher, as 14 goals in 20 Serie A appearances and a goal a game in the Champions League this season will testify.

ESTEBAN CAMBIASSO

Cambiasso has been the key to Inter's success this season, with Patrick Vieira's impact limited by injury. The Argentinian is essentially a defensive midfielder, but is so much more besides. He picks and chooses his moments to join in with the attack carefully and intelligently and his passing is crisp and inventive.

MARCO MATERAZZI

Materazzi is almost the archetypal Italian defender and will look to stop Fernando Torres by any means necessary. Expect him to stick to Torres like glue. He is also a danger at set-pieces at the other end, as he proved by scoring Italy's goal in the 2006 World Cup final before his brand of playful banter proved too much for Zinedine Zidane to take.

SIX REASONS WHY RAFA FACES THE ANFIELD BOOT

Rafa Benitez could be just one defeat away from the sack as Liverpool manager.

Spaniard Benitez's four-year reign is in grave jeopardy after Liverpool's FA Cup defeat to Barnsley and must overcome Inter Milan to keep his job.

But despite success at Anfield in Europe and the FA Cup, Benitez has failed to deliver the Premier League and his future hangs in the balance because of his major failings as Liverpool manager.

ROTATION

Benitez cannot help but tinker with his lineup and paid a heavy price for leaving out Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres (below) from his starting line-up against Barnsley in the FA Cup.

Liverpool's star £26million striker Torres has never established a good partnership up front because Benitez cannot help himself from making changes for virtually every game.

Benitez even did an amazing run of 99 consecutive games of making at least one change to his line-up - and has clearly never learnt from the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea who always keep a core of players in their team.

BOARDROOM UNCERTAINTY

Benitez has not only had a battle to turn around results on the pitch - but has also waged a bitter boardroom war this season. Benitez has fallen out with American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett and relations were not helped when it emerged that even his own job had been offered to Jurgen Klinsmann.

Benitez has come under fire for using the club's uncertain future as an excuse for bad results but it would appear that the manager is dead man walking while Hicks and Gillett remain in charge.

CRAZY SPENDING

Benitez has spent a staggering £129.7m on 36 players since taking charge at Anfield in the summer of 2004.

But there have been very few signings of real genuine world class quality. In fact, just one - Fernando Torres for £26.5m.

Benitez has spent more than Arsene Wenger in the past four years and yet Arsenal are top of the Premier League - and Liverpool will struggle to finish in the top four.

Benitez has spent a fortune and bought too many ordinary players - and his squad still only has three world class talents in Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Liverpool are languishing 19 points behind Arsenal in the Premier League - and in grave danger of missing out on the Champions League places.

Liverpool have gone 18 years since they last won the title in 1990 and Benitez was under orders to make that his priority this season. But Benitez has once again seen Liverpoo's indifferent form, rotation and lack of quality undermine their title chances.

CUP EMBARRASSMENTS

Benitez has made the Champions League his number one target - but has failed to understand the importance of the FA Cup and Carling Cups.

Championship club Barnsley were the latest team to put Liverpool out on Saturday - but don't forget Burnley, Crystal Palace and being held by Luton and twice going behind to Havant and Waterlooville.

The humiliating cup defeats have only heightened the pressure on Benitez. He may not care - but the fans do.

POOR SIGNINGS

Benitez has spent big - and often badly with players like Charles-Hubert Itandje, Gabriel Paletta, Josemi, Fernando Morientes (left) and Antonio Nunez.

They will hardly go down as Liverpool legends and yet Liverpool's ever reliable defender Jamie Carragher was even pushed out of position to accommodate £6m signing Martin Skrtel, and he hardly looks a world beater.

Benitez cannot complain he was not given the money but he seems to have frittered it away carelessly.
Liverpool v INTER MILAN

PREVIOUS MEETINGS:

May 4 1965: European Cup, semifinal first leg; Liverpool 3 Inter 1

May 12 1965: second leg; Inter 3 Liverpool 0

ODDS, TIMES:

Liverpool are oddson to be knocked out by Inter Milan, with William Hill offering 4/7 that the Italians go through. Rafa Benitez's men are 5/4.

Tv Times: ITV1 from 7.30pm. Kick-off 7.45pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...9520-20324382/

Rubbish. Complete and utter rubbish! Rafa has one the FA cup and made it to the finals of the League cup and the team he put out against Barnsley was way stronger than Fergie or Wenger would have played.

His net spending is not that bad considering he had useless, overpaid players to start with. Those poor signings were cheap and have moved on.

He seems to have lost the dressing room which would be a point of no return probably but I'll support him to the end of the season. Martin O'Neill would not be an improvement by the way.

[Kloppster]

"When I go out on to the pitch, when I get my mind into playing mode, I forget about everything except winning. I will die to try and get my team a win"


Thats the Shankly spirit and the Liverpool way!

[bobbyfallon]

he hasnt even signed permanently though has he???

[Rich]

Great player

[Angry Dan]

he hasnt even signed permanently though has he???

I have been away with limited internet access but have noticed that following the Rafa quotes that Rick Parry was "working on it" I have not seen anything else.

[Matt]

he definitely has the qualities...but he cant speak english

I'm not sure thats right. I remember reading quite a lengthy interview with him recently - might even have been on the offal - where it said he insisted the interview was to be done in english.

[tommyg]

Absolute class. Great role model for the kids too, unlike A LOT of the footballers nowadays.

[Kenneth]

I have been away with limited internet access but have noticed that following the Rafa quotes that Rick Parry was "working on it" I have not seen anything else.

Surely it's in the bag then.

[JPK]

Masher talks the talk, and walks the walk. How refreshing.