Masch pledges to show Argentina passion

Rafa Benitez is no fan of international football but as he reflected on all his players' recent World Cup efforts, his eyes lit up when discussing Javier Mascherano.

While many of his united nations experienced trouble-free qualification campaigns, the same could not be said for Mascherano until a battling performance in Uruguay changed things to leave Benitez claiming good news for Argentina was great news for Liverpool.

"I think it will be really good," said Benitez. "It is very difficult when you are fighting and you have the whole country behind, pushing, pushing in every single game. It will be easier for him now to focus on our games and it will be better for our team.

"Mascherano has from the very beginning been a very important player for Maradona. He was talking about Mascherano and 10 more players. He was under pressure from the first day. Now I think it will be easier for him to manage with each game here."

Easier? If anything, Mascherano has jumped from a frying pan into a fire; the pressure of leading his country to South Africa was one thing; trying to help Liverpool away from the jaws of a crisis is another altogether.

Mascherano could have been forgiven for thinking that returning to Merseyside would have offered some much-needed respite, an opportunity to simply get on with playing football, but the opposite is true.

"I'm not relaxed," he said. "As captain of Argentina I have to take the responsibility. It is good now for me to say we are going to South Africa but I know I'm a Liverpool player and the only thing I'm thinking about is Liverpool.

"We are not in a good situation and I am going to give it my best. Before the last two games, we were under pressure because we knew Argentina were almost out of the World Cup and it was very difficult. We were lucky and won both games but in football you never know.

"This result won't decide the season but for us, in terms of boosting our confidence, it is a massive game. If we can win, Monday will be totally different. I believe we can win."

Problem is, however, there are plenty of people who think the opposite; with confidence lacking and spirits sagging, one school of thought suggests that United will arrive on Merseyside and inflict even more misery on a club that is desperately in need of a lift.

But, if you cast your mind back to when Alex Ferguson last brought a team to these parts, similarly bleak predictions were being made, given that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were both ruled out through injury.

Those who thought the sky would fall in, however, after Mascherano's close friend and compatriot Carlos Tevez opened the scoring in United's first attack were proven spectacularly wrong, as Liverpool showed a voracious appetite for hard work.

Mascherano, typically, was central to the action, his lung-bursting scurrying and scampering hassled United out of their stride and helped secure a win that gave the team belief to move forward through the rest of the campaign with purpose.

"We have lost four games in a row and we have got to keep going and working really hard," said Mascherano. "Now United is massive for us. But we have done it before and we have to keep believing in ourselves.

"We have got to try to remember what we have done in the past. We know that people will be looking at us, asking questions and the supporters are very disappointed. We know, though, that everyone will be behind us.

"It will be great for us if we can give everyone a win. We have won a lot of games with Steven and Fernando but in this situation we want to have them with us. They are so important, our key players.

"But now we have got to show character and personality, as well as making sure we improve our work rate.

"It is difficult because Liverpool is not a side that loses lots of games in a season but already we have lost six. It is very hard to take but we cannot keep thinking about it. We have just got to make sure we win against United to bring back confidence."

Given what happened with Argentina, Mascherano knows that better than anyone.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.