Liverpool fans shouldn’t fret as Rafa will have his Plan B

Football FanCast guest columnist Jeff Dennis is sure that Rafa will have a Plan B in place, should Javier and Xabi end up moving on.

With reports in this morning's Mundo Deportivo that Rafa Benitez has given Barcelona the green light to make a bid for Javier Mascherano, the signs suggest that the Spaniard has finally lost patience with the Argentine and is prepared to let him go. Whilst it will certainly be sad to see Javier leave, Rafa knows that there is no point in keeping players whose head is clearly elsewhere.

I know that there are a huge lobby of supporters who are privately fretting at the prospect of Mascherano and possibly Alonso leaving this summer; however is there really good reason too? There is no way in the world that Benitez would simply allow two of our most influential players to leave if he didn't have a Plan B already in place. Nobody (with the exception of Torres and Gerrard) is irreplaceable and Rafa will have the right players in mind to come in.

I have a sneaky feeling that Alonso will in fact stay at Anfield, despite the overtures of Madrid and is using this situation to finally get the appreciation and recognition he so craves. It has certainly been a whirlwind 12months for Xabi where he has gone from being unwanted to a near untouchable in the current line-up and it must have surprised Rafa more than most. He has never said once that he has wanted to leave Liverpool or join Madrid, which unfortunately cannot be said for the same for Mascherano.

Javier has been quite vocal this summer in talking up moves elsewhere, which has been somewhat disappointing. Rafa must be cursing the actions of a player who in fact caused the first real bust up with him and the American owners over trying to secure him on a permanent basis. We have had to listen to Barca this, Real Madrid that and he has even got his mates, like Messi, to champion the move in the press as well. It would be a shame to lose him, but there are certainly players out there who can replace him. Marcos Senna is a player who could do a job and there is possible negotiation with Barca about a possible swap deal involving Yaya Toure or perhaps the young Sergio Busquets.

We are in fact in a decent position for negotiation as there are plenty of players that Barca could offer up in exchange or Real Madrid for that matter. If Rafa believes that there is deal to be had and suitable replacements can be bought in then I for one will certainly back his judgement on their futures; he'll certainly won't see that we are left short and will have a contingency in place.

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