Mascherano says he didn’t have the qualities Guardiola need from a defensive midfielder.
At first, the Argentine wasn’t getting much playing time. and when he was playing, he wasn’t doing well.
Because of the injuries our centre-back suffered that season, Guardiola had to choose who to play in defence, Busquets or Mascherano.
Pep went for the latter in order to play his better defensive midfielder in the right position.
“I signed for Barca being a good defensive midfielder but that was a level that I had achieved in a completely different style than what Barca needed in that position. And it’s not easy to change your style as a player,” Javier Mascherano ahs told Team Barca.
“You can’t ask a player to do things he isn’t able to do. So the first months were difficult for me. Getting used to positional play, to having possession, to getting involved in the construction.
In all the years I had played that wasn’t what I did, I was separate from that. My job was mainly about what I did when the other team had the ball, not when my team had it.
“So Pep had to tell me that in each training: ‘Here, everyone gets involved in the construction of the play. The goalkeeper, the centre-backs are vital for that so that the ball gets to better positions to players with more quality with an advantage so that we can attack better’.
“I was playing some games but I wasn’t playing well, my first games at Barca weren’t good. We lost my first game even, against Hercules.
“So imagine what was going through my mind then: I come to the best team in the world and the first thing that happens is the team loses. But with time I adjusted and then the adaptation to playing centre-back was more or less natural.
“We had problems with the centre-backs that season. Cales Puyol got injured, Eric Abidal got sick… There was Gerard Pique and Gabi Milito who had also been injured, so Pep didn’t have a lot of options. In the return leg against Arsenal, Busquets played centre-back and I played as the pivot because Abi was suspended.
“So we play that way against Arsenal, we win and then we find out about Abi’s illness. We play that way against Shakhtar at the Camp Nou, we win 5-1 and I think that’s when Pep saw something that is logical.
“I didn’t talk to him about this specifically but I assume that the idea was to not move the best defensive midfielder he had from his position and have to make 2 changes when he could just make one change and play me at centre-back and keep Busi at defensive midfielder. My first minutes as a centre-back were the final minutes against Almeria at the Camp Nou.
“I think Pep did this because he knew he’d play me as a centre-back in the return leg against Shakthar. I didn’t ask him but knowing how he plans things I assume that this was his test for me.
“And then we went to Donetsk and I found out I’ll be playing at centre-back in the dressing room when he told us what the team was. So there wasn’t any previous training or anything before that game. After that, I did train as a centre-back learning the concepts that come with that position and trying to lose some of the vices that one has as a defensive midfielder because there are some things that you obviously can’t do anymore as a defender.”
Mascherano played for Barca between 2010 and 2018, managing 334 appearances, one goal and eight assists. He helped the Catalans win 19 trophies, including two Champions League titles. The Argentine has announced his retirement from professional football.
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