Javier Mascherano – ‘When the Manchester United and Everton games came along, it was like he was a Scouser’

Every club have their heroes, but during this international break, The Athletic is paying tribute to those players cherished for more than just what they did with the ball at their feet — the modern-day cult heroes…

It was late December 2006. The Liverpool squad were in London preparing to face Tottenham at White Hart Lane when Rafa Benitez headed to a plush apartment in Canary Wharf. Javier Mascherano opened the door and welcomed him in.

“It was supposed to be a quick, clandestine meeting but Rafa was there about two and a half hours,” a member of the Spaniard’s backroom staff tells The Athletic.

“It was typical Rafa, absolutely meticulous. He spelled out exactly where he saw Javier fitting in at Liverpool. He was moving these stones around on a table to show him how it would all work tactically.

“Javier was quite shocked initially that Rafa wanted him, considering he couldn’t get a game at West Ham at the time, but he was desperate to play football and he had been on Rafa’s database since his early days at River Plate. This was a player so highly rated in Argentina that he won his first international cap before he’d made his senior debut for River Plate. Rafa was convinced that he would help take the team to the next level.”

Getting the deal done was far from straightforward. FIFA rules stated that a player couldn’t play for more than two clubs between July 1 of one year and June 30 of the next, so Liverpool had to get special clearance from the world governing body to take Mascherano, initially on loan, for a fee of £1.6 million.

That was forthcoming shortly before the January transfer deadline but then there was also the complicated web of third-party ownership surrounding both Mascherano and fellow Argentina international Carlos Tevez, who had both arrived at Upton Park from Corinthians the previous summer in moves facilitated by the agent Kia Joorabchian.

It took a further three weeks for Mascherano’s transfer to be sanctioned by the Premier League, meaning it was late February before he belatedly made his Liverpool debut in a 4-0 rout of Sheffield United.

The Premier League’s subsequent investigation, which led to West Ham being fined £5.5 million for entering into third-party contracts, revealed that Mascherano had been owned by two offshore companies, Mystere Ltd and Global Soccer Agencies Ltd.

Remarkably, given he had played every minute for Argentina at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, the then 22-year-old had been repeatedly overlooked by West Ham boss Alan Pardew and then Alan Curbishley, who took over shortly before Christmas. Mascherano had played just seven minutes of league football since October with Hayden Mullins and Nigel Reo-Coker picked ahead of him in midfield.

But not everyone at Melwood was initially convinced about Mascherano.

“A few players have totally surprised me and changed my mind,” Gerrard wrote in his autobiography. “Javier Mascherano battled at first and his passing seemed badly awry but he just needed a settling-in period. At first, I was thinking, ‘I’m not sure’ but after five or six games, he was obviously very good. It took time for him to show his quality.”

Jamie Carragher tells The Athletic: “I remember wondering where he was going to fit in because we already had a lot of midfielders at the time. He needed a few games to get going but it was clear early on that Rafa absolutely loved him. Hearing Rafa talk about Mascherano, it was clear that he was going to play a big part going forward.”

It wasn’t long before Anfield was smitten, too. Four months after being an outcast at West Ham, Mascherano was starting in the Champions League final against AC Milan in Athens. The night ended in defeat but he was arguably Liverpool’s best player on the night. He had also been instrumental in both legs of the dramatic semi-final triumph over Chelsea on penalties.

The Kop sang: “We’ve got the best midfield in the world. We’ve got Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Gerrard and Mascherano!” He was also given the honour of his own song as supporters chanted his name to the tune of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army.

“When Rafa left Xabi out of the second leg of the semi against Chelsea and played Javier together with Stevie, you thought, ‘Wow, what a big call that is’,” recalls Carragher. “Xabi had done so much for the club. It spoke volumes about what Rafa thought of Javier. You thought, ‘The manager really believes in this fella’.”

Mascherano’s influence on the team continued to grow as he gave Liverpool’s midfield a greater combative edge and made the holding role his own. Sissoko’s game time became increasingly limited, with the arrival of Lucas Leiva from Gremio adding further competition for places.

Left-back John Arne Riise tells The Athletic: “Javier really was the perfect team-mate. In terms of the system we played and his position in the team, he ticked all the boxes.

“He mopped everything up, he stopped opposition counter-attacks, and he made so many tackles. You could feel the tension and excitement in the crowd when Javier was going in for a challenge, and then the roar when he inevitably won the ball back. He did that cleaning-up job brilliantly.

“I always felt safe going forward from left-back in the knowledge that Javier was there to cover if a move broke down. He must have been the worst player to play against. If he was chasing you, you just knew that he was going to get you. He was smart but he was also quick.

“When he came to training, he was in his own zone. He was quiet but he trained the way he played: total commitment, complete focus. Once we were back in the dressing room or on the coach after matches, he was very different — smiling and joking around. He had such a good balance between being serious and working hard when it really mattered, but also being able to relax when the time was right. A true professional and a funny guy.”

Keeping Mascherano was a no-brainer for Liverpool and, in February 2008, they paid the £17 million required to turn his loan into a permanent arrangement.

“His English wasn’t great initially but the number of Spanish speakers at the club helped him,” another member of Benitez’s staff recalls.

“Javier was close to Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres. Lucas and Fabio Aurelio too. He also took young players like Emiliano Insua and Dani Pacheco under his wing. Javier was all about football and family. He doted on his kids and lived close to Sefton Park. He used to spend a lot of time with Tevez and his family after he moved to Manchester United. Sometimes, they’d meet up at Speke Retail Park.

“It meant so much to Javier to play for Liverpool and to represent the people on the field. Watching him play, it was like he had a motorbike to get around the pitch. He had this incredible energy.

“He was very much into the history of the club and wanted to learn everything about Liverpool. He used to get so worked up. When the Manchester United and Everton games came along, it was like he was a Scouser. He would send local members of staff at the club messages before derby games saying: ‘We’re doing this for you’.

“Everyone loved Javier. He was a genuinely boss fella. We used to wind him up before games, keeping him on edge. If he was angry, he trained and played better. It gave him fire in his belly.”

At times, he couldn’t control that aggression. In a highly-charged contest at Old Trafford in March 2008, he was sent off before half-time. Initially carded for a late challenge on Paul Scholes, he collected a second yellow for running towards referee Steven Bennett to protest about a booking given to Torres. Mascherano was incensed and didn’t leave the field until he was dragged away by team-mates and his manager.

“I asked the referee what was happening. I did not swear and I did not confront him,“ he insisted. But the FA charged him with improper conduct and his ban was increased from one game to three. Their clampdown on players showing dissent to officials didn’t last.

Another extended run in the Champions League ended with defeat to Chelsea in the semi-finals in April 2008 as Liverpool went on to finish fourth in the Premier League.

Mascherano was never too shy to plead his case to a match official (Photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

It was in 2008-09 when Mascherano arguably produced his best football for the club. His central midfield double act with Alonso enabled Gerrard to flourish in an advanced role. Benitez’s side lost just twice in the league all season but a number of home draws against limited opposition proved costly as Manchester United finished four points clear at the top.

“The partnership Javier had with Xabi was unbelievable,” says Riise. “Javier did the dirty work and then he had the pass master next to him. You’d struggle to find many better centre midfield pairings than that.

“Fans want 100 per cent commitment. They forgive you for bad passes and mistakes but what they can’t forgive is players not giving everything for the shirt. Javier was so loved because you could see how much playing for Liverpool meant to him. He never stopped running, he never gave up a lost cause. He left everything out there.”

Pepe Reina wrote in his autobiography: “The performances of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano in the centre of midfield were massively important to us. It was a great partnership, probably the best midfield pair I have ever been involved with at club level. They gave us so much balance and allowed us to control games. There was no pairing as good as that in the Premier League. In the season we finished second, they were incredible.”

Carragher adds: “It was a midfield trio, really, and that balance was just about perfect. It had everything that you’d want. Someone to break it up, someone with a great range of passing and then someone chipping in with a lot of goals and assists. Javier was as good as anyone around in that holding role.

“It’s just a shame they didn’t play together for longer. That midfield should have won trophies together. As a team, we’d have been more successful if those three had been kept together but Xabi left in 2009 and, 12 months after that, Javier was gone too.”

In November 2008, new Argentina boss Diego Maradona brought Melwood to a standstill when he visited the club’s training complex to hold talks with Mascherano and ask him to become his captain. The iconic figure described Mascherano as “a monster of a player and destined for great things”.

“It was crazy. All the players and the staff and their families were queuing from Rafa’s office, down the stairs and into reception to have their photo taken with Diego,” says one staff member.

“Javier adored Diego and that honour of leading his country meant a great deal to him. He’d sit and tell you stories about playing with Lionel Messi and being managed by Diego.

“He became best mates with Messi. A few years later, he graciously stepped aside so Messi became Argentina captain. Javier explained to him that for the nation, it was important for him to be captain. There was no acrimony. Javier never needed the plaudits.”

Stories from those who worked with him around that time are telling about Mascherano’s mentality.

When Liverpool famously hammered Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield in the last 16 of the Champions League in March 2009, Mascherano was fuming that Iker Casillas had tipped over his spectacular long-range volley.

“He was gutted,” laughs one of Benitez’s former lieutenants. “A 30-yarder arching right into the top corner before Casillas made an unbelievable save. Javier was so gutted. He was going on about that save for days after.”

Mascherano only scored two goals in 139 appearances for Liverpool — one against Reading in front of the Kop, the other away to Unirea Urziceni in the Europa League.

Others recall the lengths he went to in order to ensure he was out there stamping his authority on proceedings.

“There were times when he’d been limping all week and you’d get told on a Friday: ‘Javier is really struggling, he’s got no chance for the weekend’ but then come Saturday, he was adamant that he was fine to play and he’d still be like a rocket into every tackle,” recalls one staff member.

“I think about the international breaks when he’d get off the plane at 7am on a Friday after a 15-hour flight and come straight to training. You’d think, ‘No chance for Saturday’ but he’d always say, ‘Mister, I am ready’. That’s what he called Rafa.”

Mascherano celebrates a rare Liverpool goal against Unirea Urziceni in the Europa League in February 2010 (Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

He was no stranger to the dark arts. He learned the words to a derogatory song the Kop sang to antagonise John Terry so he could wind up the Chelsea captain when they rubbed shoulders during one game.

When Barcelona came calling in the summer of 2009, Mascherano’s head was turned. But with Alonso determined to force through a £30 million move to Real Madrid, Benitez simply couldn’t afford to lose them both.

“You knew you had a big problem when one of the South American boys was being pursued by either Barcelona or Real Madrid,” says Carragher.

“The year that Xabi went, I don’t think Rafa was too sad to see him go but he desperately didn’t want to lose Mascherano and that was an issue. It left a lot of bad feeling with Mascherano. He ended up staying put for another season but he was never the same player. His exit always looked inevitable.”

As the divisive and debt-ridden ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett took its toll, Liverpool lurched to crisis point over the course of the 2009-10 season. They crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage and Championship strugglers Reading beat them in the third round of the FA Cup. They limped home seventh in the Premier League. Mascherano collected two more red cards against Manchester United and Portsmouth.

“In fairness to Javier, after the initial disappointment of not getting the move he wanted, he got his head down and gave 100 per cent. It was a poor season but Javier was still one of our better players,” says the member of Benitez’s backroom staff.

“We won 2-0 at Goodison in the November and the opening goal came from Javier’s strike, which took a massive deflection off Joseph Yobo. He sent me a message after saying: ‘That goal was for you’. He was so delighted to have made a big contribution against Everton. He’d run the length of Goodison to celebrate in front of the away end. I had to break the news to him it had gone down as an own goal.”

By the time Benitez’s reign ended in early June, Mascherano was convinced that he would be leaving, too. He had an agreement in place with Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow that he could join Barcelona if the asking price was met.

“Then the club tried to backtrack,” a source close to Mascherano tells The Athletic. “Javier got very upset and angry with Purslow. Promises weren’t kept. It was wrong, the way it all ended. People only heard one side of the story.”

Mascherano swerved calls from new manager Roy Hodgson during the World Cup in South Africa. When he returned to Melwood for pre-season, his future remained unclear. Benitez wanted to take him to Inter Milan but those hopes were dashed because the Serie A outfit couldn’t match Barcelona’s £22 million offer.

When Mascherano played against Arsenal on the opening weekend of the 2010-11 Premier League season, he was afforded a standing ovation when he was substituted late on. He believed that was his Anfield farewell. It was important to him to “leave out of the front door”.

But still the saga dragged on, and as Purslow dragged his heels, an incensed Mascherano decided to take matters into his own hands and sat out the Premier League showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad.

A number of journalists were given off-the-record briefings by a club official on the day of the game saying Mascherano was refusing to play. Hodgson then criticised him after the 3-0 defeat for creating “a selfish situation”. The following week, he was granted his move to Barcelona.

“Listen, I was never involved in a transfer saga so I don’t know what it’s like. There are always things going on behind the scenes,” says Carragher.

“I know Javier has said he regrets the decision not to play against City. Players have done things like that to push through a move to Liverpool, so you can’t really complain when you’re on the receiving end.

“Mascherano was always going to go at some stage. I’m sure he wishes things had ended differently for him at Liverpool but whatever happened towards the end doesn’t detract from the service he gave to the club.”

After helping Barcelona sweep Manchester United aside in the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley, Mascherano declared: “I know Liverpool supporters after my exit were a little bit sad with me, so this is for them as well.”

Having initially kept his counsel about his exit from Anfield, he finally spoke openly about it in 2014.

“I didn’t want to say anything at the time because of my respect for Liverpool,” he said. “I did not want to say anything about a club that had been so good for me, so I kept my mouth shut. Maybe that was a mistake because it allowed other people to say bad things about me.

“When I went back to Liverpool for pre-season, I had a lot of meetings with them and they were promising a lot of things to me but never kept their word. I did not wake up one day and refuse to play. In the game before City, we played against Arsenal and I gave everything because I was wearing the Liverpool shirt. Why would I do that and risk getting injured when I knew that Barcelona were close to signing me, and then refuse to play in another game?

“We had been talking about completing the transfer for 20 days because the club also wanted to make it happen but then they started to make things difficult for me. It was very sad for me to leave Liverpool in the way that I did because being with them was one of the best moments in my life.

“The people treated me really well and I would never want to let them down. I wanted to leave in another way but they didn’t give me the chance to. It left me with a bad feeling.”

Reinvented as a centre-back, his seven and a half seasons at the Nou Camp yielded two European Cups and five La Liga titles. After spells in China and back in his homeland, he announced his retirement in November 2020.

To this day, he remains close to Benitez and the affection for Mascherano among so many Liverpool fans is undimmed.

One of Benitez’s staff at Liverpool adds: “Javier used to say: ‘I’m not the best player on this pitch but I’ve got the biggest bollocks’. I think that summed him up pretty well.”

(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)