Monday, May 19, 2008

Mascherano: Next Season Will Be Different

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano told LFC Magazine that the Reds will not be also-rans again next season.

League and the Champions League this year, but the Argentine had stated that there will be no such failures in 2008-09.

He said, "Next season will be very, very different.”Next season teams will have to believe in our challenge.

"We have the supporters of a champion team, we have a team of potential champions and who all believe in the same things.

"How can we not achieve our dreams when that is true? We will be back in August more hungry for silverware than ever."

As one of the more diminutive midfielders in the league, Mascherano went on to talk about his unique physical attributes.

"I am not as tall as Steven (Gerrard) or even as tall as any of the players that I play against. So I need to be brave and prove for every minute of every game that I have a big heart," he said.

"I would say that in my position, because of my size, I have to try twice as hard as the opposition players I am playing against.

"I am the smallest player in the Liverpool team. I am maybe one of the smallest central midfielders in the country and people will, I am sure, look at me before we play them and think that they will be able to dominate me physically.

"I think that in the course of my time at Liverpool I have proved that they can't. I won't let them."

To this end, the Reds fans have nicknamed him 'Monster Masch'.

"I meet supporters and they tell me this. It makes me happy because it tells me I made the right decision coming to England and coming to Liverpool," he beamed.

"It shows I am doing the things I need to and doing them right."

The 23-year-old concluded by stating that he was proud to be at Anfield and felt that he was settling in nicely.

"It is a matter of great pride for me to represent the famous name of Liverpool," he emphasised.

"I want to play my part in making the club even more successful. I want to ensure this is the last season without a trophy for us for a long time.

"We had a season that had many highlights, but also left us with a feeling that maybe we could have achieved more.

"I would say of course that I could be better. I am not finished as a player and I look at the other boys in this team and try to learn little things from them.

"But I have definitely had a more consistent season this year than I had in the six months after I first arrived."

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