Source: Liverpool_Echo
Javier Mascherano pledges to bring Argentinian passion to Liverpool FC
Argentina captain Javier Mascherano 320[LNB]RAFA BENITEZ is no fan of international football but as he reflected on all his players' recent World Cup efforts, his eyes lit up when discussing Javier Mascherano.[LNB]While many of his united nations experienced trouble-free qualification campaigns, the same could not be said for Mascherano until a battling performance in Uruguay changed things to leave Benitez claiming good news for Argentina was great news for Liverpool.[LNB]'I think it will be really good,' said Benitez. 'It is very difficult when you are fighting and you have the whole country behind, pushing, pushing in every single game. It will be easier for him now to focus on our games and it will be better for our team. [LNB]'Mascherano has from the very beginning been a very important player for Maradona. He was talking about Mascherano and 10 more players. He was under pressure from the first day. Now I think it will be easier for him to manage with each game here.'[LNB]Easier? If anything, Mascherano has jumped from a frying pan into a fire; the pressure of leading his country to South Africa was one thing; trying to help Liverpool away from the jaws of a crisis is another altogether.[LNB]Mascherano could have been forgiven for thinking that returning to Merseyside would have offered some much-needed respite, an opportunity to simply get on with playing football, but the opposite is true. [LNB]Liverpool's worst run of results in 22 years has left anxious natives searching for the panic button so, as he gets ready for a potentially season defining battle with Manchester United, it is no surprise that Mascherano is in street-fighting mood once more. [LNB]'I'm not relaxed,' he said. 'As captain of Argentina I have to take the responsibility. It is good now for me to say we are going to South Africa but I know I'm a Liverpool player and the only thing I'm thinking about is Liverpool.[LNB]'We are not in a good situation and I am going to give it my best. Before the last two games, we were under pressure because we knew Argentina were almost out of the World Cup and it was very difficult. We were lucky and won both games but in football you never know. [LNB]'This result won't decide the season but for us, in terms of boosting our confidence, it is a massive game. If we can win, Monday will be totally different. I believe we can win.' [LNB]Problem is, however, there are plenty of people who think the opposite; with confidence lacking and spirits sagging, one school of thought suggests that United will arrive on Merseyside and inflict even more misery on a club that is desperately in need of a lift.[LNB]But, if you cast your mind back to when Alex Ferguson last brought a team to these parts, similarly bleak predictions were being made, given that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were both ruled out through injury.
