Liverpool: 11 Best Ever Foreign Players From Premier League Era

8. Javier Mascherano

Origin: Argentina Bought From: Media Sports Investments Bought By: Rafael Benitez Apps: 139 Javier Mascherano is an enigma at Liverpool - how did such a talented player never won a trophy? He was a huge part of a great team which included a prime time Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard at his peak, Fernando Torres at his most lethal and Alonso at his, well, most Alonso. Javier Mascherano's talent indeed merited at least one trophy as a Liverpool player but that honour never came. Javier almost tasted Champions League success in his first season as a Liverpool player but the Reds missed out on the winners' medals as AC Milan finally exorcised the demons of 2005 with a 2-1 win in Athens. Mascherano was voted as man of the match by Liverpool fans on the official club website. Mascherano was not exactly a prolific goalscorer as a Liverpool player, scoring just two goals during his stay on Merseyside. The first was a screamer at Anfield against Reading in March of the 2007-2008 season. The second was also a bit spectacular; away at Unirea Urziceni to help Liverpool win 3-1 in the Europa League. Although Mascherano was actually encouraged to shoot by ironic non-Liverpool supporters at games, he never scored a poor goal for the Reds, 100% of his goals were from outside the box - an absolutely stunning statistic (sarcasm, yes). Although scoring just two goals doesn't create a strong case for Javier being eighth on this list, I believe he deserves to be at this level because of his high work ethic and tough tackling nature. He's a quicker Lucas and also a very good long passer of the ball - particularly evident once Alonso departed for Real Madrid. Despite his poor disciplinary record, Xabi Alonso once stated that, "he has a cool mind on the pitch." At times, people probably thought Xabi was crazy but he had a point. Most of the time Mascherano was a great tackler and a calm passer, often doing the simple, non-luxurious job of winning the ball back and passing the ball on to Alonso and Gerrard to set up new attacks. In that sense, he was similar to Kuyt in the way he always worked tirelessly for the team while others, such as Fernando Torres, often stole the limelight with eye catching goals and assists. Although Javier's Anfield stay ended slightly bitterly I think he went some way to regaining some of the lost love by dedicating his Champions League final victory over Manchester United to the Liverpool faithful. A nice touch, recognising he still holds Liverpool in high regards.