Quote: Enfield Exile "He's not a footballer. He's a tackler. It's your opinion, fella. I am not claiming to speak the inubitable truth. I am simply stating I think/believe you to be incorrect.
I'd rather have Alonso than Mascherano.
Most DMs are overrated in terms of ability. I think you need to have ball winners in midfield but you need people who can pass, create and score goals too. can you tell me two aspects of Mascherano's play that make him 'world class'?
IMO it's a combination of both club and internatonal. David Healy had a purple patch at international level. That is all.
In terms of Ronaldo at international level, I didn't say he'd been awful, just that he doesn't come across as world class at that level more often than not.'"
Is tackling not part of football or something now?
It's hard to explain attributes of a player that are world class, his tackling, work rate, tenacity and the way he maintains such a high tempo to his game, he can shut teams down on his own at times and that's what makes him world class.
There are plenty of different aspects in football, just because he doesn't score 30 yarders every week, or open teams up every week, doesn't mean he's not world class. When we've played in the big games this year, he's been just as key to us as any other player.
If you'd rather Alonso, then fair enough, I like Alonso and he's a class player. Off this seasons form I'd rather Alonso, he's upped his game a lot. In my opinion, ball winners can be just as important as the creators. Just look at Arsenal since they've lost Flamini, they look spineless. Did you ever see Barca when they never have Toure/Keita? They would be dominated by sides who had a strong midfield, like they were by us when we beat them in the Camp Nou, Sissoko dominated them.
Also, when you have a midfielder like Alonso, or Riquelme, passing isn't such a valuable asset. Ever since Mascherano has broke into the Argentina squad, he's established himself as a key player, for the fact that he protects the defence so well and has somebody like Riquelme playing with him, who he can just give the ball to. That's all he does, gives it to Gerrard/Alonso and let's them do the harder stuff. I'd love to see some stats on Mascherano's passing, I very much doubt it's that bad.
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