Gerrard convinced Hammers blundered on Javier

By JOHN EDWARDS

Last updated at 08:18 02 March 2007


He has already been accused of losing

the dressing room, and now Alan

Curbishley is facing claims he let one

of the world’s outstanding midfield

talents slip through his fingers.

If Javier Mascherano’s arrival at West

Ham last summer divided opinion, his

departure to Liverpool six months

later was just as contentious.

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Doubts lingered over his adaptability,

yet he has already done enough in a

brief spell at Anfield to convince

skipperStevenGerrardthat his style is

perfectly suited to the English game.

Gerrard said: "He is class. He is one of

the best young players in his position

anywhere in the world, which makes

what happened to him at West Ham

surprising.

"You can see his quality on the

training pitch, and I am positive he is

going to become a great addition to

what we have

already. I think

he has got

everything in his

game to succeed

at Liverpool.

"He is quick over

the ground, he

plays passes with

intelligence, and

he gets stuck into

a tackle when he

needs to.

"I saw a fair bit of

Argentina at the

World Cup and he

was one of the best players they had.

People raved about them in the group

stages and a lot of that was down to

how Javier controlled games."

Liverpool face a Manchester United

side on Saturday who must do without

striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, set for

more surgery on his sore knee.

Solskjaer had been sidelined for 20

months as he battled back from an

injury that threatened to force him

into early retirement.

He returned to action as a substitute

in United’s 2-2 draw at Birmingham

City in December 2005, but made just

five appearances last term.

This season Solskjaer has looked in

great form, scoring 10 goals in 21

appearances, including the third goal

in Tuesday’s 3-2 FA Cup defeat of

Reading.

But persistent soreness in his knee

has convinced club doctors to book

the Norwegian in for a clean-up

operation that should keep him out

for a couple of weeks.