Mascherano Has Good Karma, Aquilani Bad

That tackle

Saturday was a day to forget for the Liverpool fans and players. A limp away defeat to Portsmouth, and it was capped right before half-time by Javier Mascherano’s awful tackle on Tal Ben-Haim that ruined the Argentine’s knee and earned him a red card in the process.

However, these things have a way of working themselves out. Mascherano’s ruptured knee ligaments will require 2-3 weeks on the physio’s table before he can return to the side, and… hey! That coincides nicely with the end of his 4-game ban that begins immediately. The heavier punishment is due to a ban earlier in the season, but fortunately for him and Liverpool (I think), the games he’ll miss through suspension would have been missed anyway in recovering from his injury.

Once January rolls around, he’ll be free to rejoin the starting lineup, free from suspension and injury. The FA’s fully aware of this hilarious coincidence, but, being the incompetents they are, they’ll do nothing about it and life will continue as normal.

Meanwhile, it’s not all sunshine and roses for Alberto Aquilani. You’d think Mascherano’s absence from the team might lead to the beleaguered Italian making his full first team debut, and yet he’s currently in Belgrade visiting with that placenta doctor everyone was talking about a few weeks ago. He was due to make his full debut last week against Wigan, but a calf injury led him to show up on the bench and then miss the trip to Fratton Park. Then, he and reserve Nabil El Zhar shared a flight to visit with Marijana Kovacevic and her magic placentas.

And so, we draw ever closer to labeling him a transfer bust; costing 20m in the summer, he’s made three substitute appearances and a CL start against Fiorentina that lasted 76 minutes.

Personally, I can’t wait to see which injury-prone midfielder ends up with the team in January.