Benitez speaks highly of Mascherano

The Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is playing mind-games with the Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson and have said that Mascherano is the new Keane.

Rafa have declared this in the wake of their match against league leaders Mancherster United. The Reds have not registered a league win against United under the reign of Rafa.

The United manager had been spending millions in an attempt to replace the irreplacebale Irishman - Keane. Ferguson purchased Micheal Carrick for 18.6M GBP to strengthen the squad. He spend another 34M GBP to purchase Hargreaves and the Brazilian midfielder Anderson and wanted to sign Mascherano too.

Benitez said that signing Mascherano was one of the best transfer deals he had made which cost him 17M GBP and the 1.6M GBP loan arrangement fee.

"We are happy with what we have. I don't know if United are happy and I don't know how interested United were in him, but we are really pleased. Mascherano has a fantastic mentality and is a good professional and he can be a key player for us over the next few years. "

"He could be like Roy Keane. He is the same kind of player, a player with strong character. A leader. When you play in a foreign country the language is always important, and as Mascherano gets better with that he will improve as a player."

Javier Mascherano had played wonderfully this season giving ample support to Torres and Gerrard and giving them the freedom to attack.

Rafa had only one win against Manchester United in the FA Cup in 2006.The fact remains that none of his liverpool players has scored against Ferguson's United in the seven league matches.

Rafa has confidence in beating Manchester united this time, "We have scored 99 goals this season and we are in a good moment. We have been really close in the past, especially in two games where we conceded a goal in the last minute to free-kicks at Old Trafford and Anfield. We know it will be tough but if we do everything perfect, we can beat them."

"They have Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez, all match-winners, but now we have two or three players who can do the same. I have a lot of confidence in this squad. We have a young squad with a lot of good players, and this team will be better and we can compete with anyone."