Can Yerry Mina fill the void created by the departure of Javier Mascherano?
When all else failed, ‘El Jefecito’ could be counted upon. When Carles Puyol was fatigued, he could fill in for the veteran. When Gerard Piqué was out of form, he could hold the back line single-handedly. And when Sergio Busquets was out injured, he could protect the defence.
The little Argentine was one with the club, and the club was one with him. Javier Mascherano can be described as the ideal team player. He did what he did for his team and for the squad, and never acted out of selfish interests.
This season, he hadn’t played much before he switched allegiances to Hebei China Fortune. It is the only act of his career where he acted purely out of self-interest. Of course, he had made just 7 appearances in the La Liga and thought his career was going downhill.
But he could have stayed and played a lot due to the injury to Samuel Umtiti. But Mascherano went for the money. Regardless, no criticism can change the fact that he has left. Now, we have to focus on his replacement, Yerry Mina.
Of course, Mina’s signing will not have any effect on the starting centre-back pairing of Gerard Piqué and Samuel Umtiti. They retain their role in the squad, but the backup pairing will now be that of Thomas Vermaelen and Yerry Mina.
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Mina will take some time to adapt to European conditions. It is up to the most senior player in the defence, Gerard Piqué to make sure that the Colombian feels comfortable at the Camp Nou. He needs to settle in fast because as the season enters its business end, there will be a lot of tired players.
As for Thomas Vermaelen, his career at Barcelona will be over ere the summer transfer window opens.
As for the full-back positions, the players have been performing excellently. But Ernesto Valverde has adopted a queer substitution when it comes to full-backs. His first-choice pairing is Sergi Roberto on the right and Jordi Alba on the left.
But he has begun to start his second-choice pairing of Lucas Digne and Nélson Semedo and then, halfway through the game, substitute in the first-choice pairing. It is unconventional, and not in a positive way.
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Full-backs should play the entirety of the game when they start. Not only are these a waste of substitutions, it might limit Valverde when coming to subbing off injured players. The manager should consider reverting to his original policy of substituting midfielders, and desert this plan.