Masch suffers player backlash - Report

Javier Mascherano reportedly suffered a backlash from his own team-mates after he pulled out of the Liverpool team to play Manchester City. Mascherano was described as not being 'in the right frame of mind' to face City, and was therefore left out of Roy Hodgson's starting line-up.However, according to both The Daily Mirror and The Sun, Mascherano's withdrawal wrecked Roy Hodgson's carefully planned tactics.Hodgson reportedly worked on a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mascherano and Lucas Leiva anchoring the midfield, in order to combat City's strength in the middle of the pitch.However, with Christian Poulsen apparently deemed not ready to start such a big Premier League match, Hodgson was forced to deploy a 4-4-2 system that left Liverpool exposed.A 'club source' told The Sun: "The senior players at the club were seriously hacked off with Mascherano on Monday night and that was clear when he arrived back on Tuesday."There are players in that squad who are Liverpool through and through and they were fuming at what Mascherano did."The Argentinian did train at Melwood on Tuesday, but reportedly did so alone.Barcelona made a bid for Mascherano on Monday, which was swiftly rejected by the club.Hodgson said of the offer: "Unfortunately the fee the club thinks is the correct fee and the fee we are being offered are very far apart."Unless that can be resolved he might be unhappy for a long time to come."

Source: Team_Talk