The Beautiful Game

What is it with clubs trying to sign players they don’t actually need? The biggest Deadline Day news so far is FIFA’s decision to grant Liverpool dispensation to take Javier Mascherano off West Ham’s hands. And yet Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and nouveau-Vieira Momo Sissoko are three of the best central midfielders in the country, and Rafa Benitez still hasn’t figured out how to fit them all into his side.

So when, and where, will Mascherano play? He may have had a torrid time at Upton Park, but his performances for
Argentina last summer revealed him to be one of the most adept holding midfielders in the game. I spy more tinkering from Rotating Rafa ahead…