FC Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano has a hamstring injury and will be out for a minimum of four weeks.
The Argentine suffered the injury during his nation’s 4-2 friendly defeat to Nigeria, so this would be a double blow for him. According to Barcelona’s website, a four-week lay-off is expected – but given Mascherano’s age and the tricky nature of hamstring injuries, that could be a conservative estimate.
Barcelona now have just one back-up centre-back, the perpetually injured Thomas Vermaelen. That’s a bad situation to be in should they ever be without Gerard Piqué or Samuel Umtiti (through injury, suspension or rest).
Moreover, their expected back-up options; Barcelona B’s Rodrigo Tarín, the multifunctional Sergi Roberto, and the tall and powerful André Gomes, are also injured and should be so for the next month. So who could Barcelona turn to if they need an emergency centre-back?
Thomas Vermaelen
The most obvious option is, yes, to simply play Thomas Vermaelen there.
The Belgian is a natural defender and has got years of experience.
The downside? He’s very injury-prone and there’s no sense that he’d be able to stay fit for even one single game, let alone if a run is required of him. It’d almost be better to leave him on the bench as a true emergency back-up for in-game injuries.
Sergio Busquets
Pep Guardiola has used Busquets as a centre-back before, moreover with his supreme reading of the game and excellent passing he could even made a good ball-playing defender.
The problems here are twofold, a centre-back needs to have more athleticism than Busquets does, and even more of an issue is that by moving him into defence you no longer have him in midfield, where his skill-set is utterly essential for Barça’s passing attack.
Jorge Cuenca
With Rodrigo Tarín injured, Barcelona could look to an even younger La Masia product to save them.
17 year-old Jorge Cuenca only joined Barcelona in the summer, but is a defender full of promise and potential.
At 6’2 he’s got the height to deal with any crosses and as long as Piqué or Umtiti guide him well, a star could be born.
Lucas Digne
Lucas Digne is obviously a left-back, but at 5’10 he’s not short and moreover is a quality defender (winning 65% of his tackles since the start of 2016/17) whose athleticism and instincts could serve him well in a covering role.
One weaknesses full-backs often have is in the air, but at 5’10 Digne is actually decent there. Since the start of last season he’s won 65% of his aerial duels, which is just below Piqué’s 66%.
Alright he’s only contested 34 duels as opposed to the Catalan’s 106, but he could handle himself on crosses and make for a decent stopgap centre-back. This may actually be the best choice.
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