FC Barcelona And Liverpool Legend Javier Mascherano Says Catalans’ Midfield Was ‘Unbearable’

FC Barcelona legend Javier Mascherano said that the Blaugrana’s midfield was “unbearable” in his playing days during an interview with Ole.

Mascherano joined the Catalans from Liverpool in 2010 when they were overseen by Pep Guardiola, and spent a solid eight years at Camp Nou with brought him no end of silverware.

In an interview with Ole from his homeland Argentina, he reflected that the team’s midfield during the fabled ‘Tiki-taka era’ was “unbearable”.

“But in addition to Busi [Sergio Busquets], Xavi, Iniesta you had players as good as [Ivan] Rakitic, Cesc [Fabregas] or Thiago [Alcantara]. Not to mention the strikers he added.”

Now overseeing La Albiceleste’s U-20 outfit as a coach himself, Mascherano stated that Guardiol’s “great legacy” is not the titles he won and instead “what he brought to the sport”.

“There is a football before Pep and another after Guardiola. When I arrived in Europe in 2006 it was very different to how we now look at football after Guardiola’s Barca. Now everyone works on how to go out and pressure [the opposition], and before Guardiola everything was more natural and less worked.”

Mascherano confessed that he travelled to Manchester to to talk to Guardiola. And even though he has contact with the City boss, Luis Enrique and Rafa Benitez – three of his former boss – he is “ashamed to ask them about football” because they are “on another level”.

“You can’t copy any coach. It’s impossible because you have to transmit to your players what you really feel and if you don’t convince them,” Mascherano stressed.

Because of the amount of mentioned talent in the center of the park he found in his way at Barca, Mascherano was converted to one of the world’s best central defenders in La Liga.

Though he didn’t say as much, perhaps this is why he thinks “the best Mascherano was seen in Liverpool”.

“That Mascherano was physically beastly, although out of five balls three he gave to the opponents. Sometimes I go back to watch my games and I think how could he lose so many balls. But he also recovered many. I was lucky enough to have Xabi Alonso and [Steven] Gerrard, I just had to run and give it to them to play,” Mascherano reminisced.

While currently working in youth international football, Mascherano revealed that “in the future I would like to coach a club when the opportunity arises”.

“It would seem to me an act of arrogance to say where I want to go and it could be misinterpreted, I also live from day to day. I’m happy and I haven’t thought much more [about it]” he insisted.