Some fans wonder if Mascherano’s head has been turned by the interest expressed by Barcelona. That may be true, but is not reason enough. Xabi Alonso started playing better when he knew he was leaving. Others have observed the pressure of becoming captain of a struggling Argentina side. Lionel Messi’s performances have suffered because of the national team’s travails, according to Guillem Balague. Although Mascherano himself suggests that the extra experience is useful.

All of this might be true. But on top of it, I think he’s been playing a very different role for the team.

1. Less tackling, more passing

His performances against Bolton Wanderers this season, compared with similar games last season, he was playing much more like Xabi Alonso: passing the ball, being at the hub of the team but tackling less like Alonso. Against Aston Villa this season, he passed the ball 78 times successfully (18% of the whole team’s passing) compared with 53 times against Villa last season (13% of the whole team’s passing).

The graph below shows the number of successful passes Mascherano made this season, compared with the games against the same teams last season. It really gives you a sense of his changing role:

Mascherano has been more of a playmaker this season

However, as a result he has been tackling far less, although the statistics can’t demonstrate whether he’s been pressurising players on the ball, my perception is that this aspect of his game has decreased as well:

Mascherano has made fewer tackles this season

2. More offensive responsibilities

My perception is that Macherano’s passing has gone forward more than in the past when it would be back to a centreback, to help Liverpool clear their lines, or sideways to a better passer. This season he’s been taking more responsibility for setting up attacks. Against West Ham last season, almost two thirds of all his passes went to a defender. In the same game this season just one in five passes went to a defender.

3. The team finding a better balance

After the first few games of this season, I was concerned that the team wasn’t missing Xabi Alonso so much as missing Javier Mascherano. As a team Liverpool have made a surprisingly similar number of passes (3336 this season up 10% on last) and tackles (350 this season up 1% on last season) this season (when Mascherano has played), compared to the same games last season. But Mascherano’s key contribution last season was tackles, and he was now more of a playmaker playing slightly higher up the pitch and providing less cover to the defence.

However, in recent games Mascherano has been playing more like Liverpool fans have come to expect: passing the ball slightly less and tackling a bit more. I don’t know whether that’s about his instructions or a general improvement in his game. He may have dropped slightly deeper and perhaps he trusts Lucas with more responsibility.

This graph shows quite clearly the reduced number of passes, and increased number of tackles as the Premiership season has gone on. I added the equivalent games last season so that you can see that some of this change is about the opponents Liverpool have faced rather than just a change in his role in the team.

Mascherano is getting a better balance between passing and tackling

Knowing what we do about Benitez’s forward-thinking and love of strategy, perhaps the alteration in Mascherano’s role in part of preparing for the arrival of Alberto Aquilani, as Steven Gerrard also drops deeper into midfield. Only time will tell. But an effective Javier Mascherano is critical to Liverpool being hard to beat and moving the ball quickly in midfield.

* all statistics from The Guardian’s chalkboards and manually calculated by me. If you spot a mistake, do let me know.

Related posts:

1. Bolton v Liverpool post match analysis
2. Liverpool v Hull City post match analysis
3. Liverpool 5 – Leicester City 1 FA Youth Cup: not good enough

Using The Guardian’s chalkboard analysis software, I took two games as comparisons, after rejecting many other possibilities. After some initial analysis it was obvious that it wasn’t useful to compare Liverpool’s performances against Aston Villa, Man United or Newcastle last season with any of this year – we were just playing so much better then. However, two performances last term were particularly similar to the Bolton game: the 0-0 draw away to Aston Villa which was the 3rd game of the season and just before the international break; and the 3-2 victory away to Manchester City. As the Liverpool Way blog said: “it was just like the start of last season”.

I chose the Man City game as the comparison because:

• it was played against 10 men for the last 25 minutes (like the Bolton game),
• Liverpool passed the ball a similar amount against Bolton compared with Man City – but far less in that game against Aston Villa
• Gerrard and Torres played against Man City but Gerrard missed the Villa game and Torres limped off in the first half
• the scoreline was the same – in similar circumstances

What I found out was that there was very little difference in the team performances in the two games. The key difference for Liverpool without Alonso was the role that Mascherano plays in the team and, to a lesser extent, the contribution of Jamie Carragher.

What wasn’t different

Steven Gerrard‘s performance wasn’t that different in either game (or, as The Guardian showed, compared with the previous game against Aston Villa). Dirk Kuyt didn’t play differently, although he did offer more defensively against Man City, with two tackles in the corner of Liverpool’s right back spot against City. Albert Riera put in a similar performance although he offers a bit more defensively, and now gives the ball away a bit less. The only significant difference in his performance was that he played inside a bit more this weekend – though a fair number of his passes went outside to Insua so this probably explains why he was tucking in a bit more. Fernando Torres wasn’t much different either, though he played a bit deeper against Man City and closed down players a bit higher against Bolton.

What was a bit different

Pepe Reina saw more of the ball against Bolton Wanderers than Man City – but you’d expect that, given the aerial threat of Bolton. Fabio Aurelio played left back against Man City last year but his replacement, Mili Insua got forward more against Bolton. Arbeloa was right fullback against Man City and got forward more than I remembered – but Glen Johnson was more potent as an attacking threat against Bolton.

What was really different

I was amazed to analyse Carragher’s contribution against Bolton so checked it three times to make sure. His passes were similar, his clearances were similar, his interceptions were similar but against Bolton at the weekend, he didn’t make a single tackle. That compares with his 10 tackles against Man City.

It is clear that Lucas Leiva is not a straight swap with Xabi Alonso. He saw the ball 30-odd times against Bolton, whereas Alonso passed it over 70 times against Man City. Moreover, Alonso got around the pitch more than Lucas. Alonso even tackled more than Lucas. But the Reds don’t miss Alonso for quite the reason you’d imagine.

What’s changed is Mascherano (there’s an interesting discussion here about Mascherano is happy at the club). He’s gone from being the person who breaks up play to being the player who keeps the ball moving. He passed the ball 70 times successfully – compared with just 35 against City.

And what’s the impact of that? Tackles. His tackle count has gone down from 69 (39 won) to 3 (1 won). Ok, so it’s Bolton who play differently (the ball will be in his area less) but it’s still a significant difference.

The analysis is undoubtedly flawed – for one, it flattens 90 minutes into a single picture. But it’s not just that Liverpool are missing Alonso. The loss of Alonso is losing an important element of Javier Mascherano too.

Related posts:

1. Liverpool reserves v Bolton reserves post match analysis
2. West Ham v Liverpool post match analysis
3. Liverpool v Burnley post match analysis