Javier Mascherano: 'I played as a defender only to survive at Barcelona'

Barcelona, Feb 1: Former Barcelona centre-back Javier Mascherano in a candid interview with his team-mate Gerard Pique has suggested that his makeshift from midfield to defence has been the key to him surviving at Barcelona.

Mascherano joined Barcelona from Liverpool in 2010 and endured a successful seven-year spell which just ended last months as the veteran Argentine left Barca for far east in the Chinese league, Hebei Fortune.

The player was eventually bought as a defensive midfielder back that time, however, Sergio Busquet's consistent performance in the heart of midfield and then manager Pep Guardiola's urge to play from the back saw the former Liverpool player becoming a centre-back.

The player since then has mostly played in the centre-back role and very often has been deployed in the midfield by other succeeding managers.

And Mascherano now has suggested that excluding him from his preferable position often gave him an urge to leave the club to play in his favourite position again in different clubs but suggested his drive of success at Barca and to win trophies made him settle in that role.

Let's just say my time at Barcelona is one of contrast in that regard," Mascherano told Pique when asked how he felt about playing out of position. "Because the best years of my career, where I could enjoy myself the most [were at Barcelona], I felt complete as a footballer, but I didn't get the chance to play as a midfielder.

"But [maybe] that is as if your glass is half empty. Those were the cards which were dealt. But when I had doubts about leaving before, that was why. No one knows better than you [Pique] how thankless a task it is to be a Barca defender. One mistake and you pay dearly."

"I adapted as I went along," he added. "The first game I played [as a centre-back] was in Donetsk in the Champions League. I had no idea I was going to play. Pep gives the lineup and he puts me in as a central defender. We had not even spoken about it before.

"It was my chance. It was the only way to hold on to something. To survive here and to stay in a team like this, I thought: 'I am going to have a lot more opportunities as a central defender than as a midfielder.' I found that spot and tried to hold on to it. I have always tried to live football from a survivalist perspective."

The 34-year-old bade farewell to Barcelona last week after making 334 appearances for the Catalonia side winning won 17 trophies. He will now play under another renowned manager, former Real Madrid and Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini with whom he worked at River Plate in his starting career.