Why Masch is the new Cally

Tommy Smith has paid Javier Mascherano the ultimate accolade by comparing him to Liverpool record holder Ian Callaghan.

Cally made 857 appearances for the Reds between 1960 and 1978, and Anfield Iron Smith admits he sees similarities between him and the Argentine.

"A major plus point for Liverpool lately has been the return to form of Javier Mascherano," said Smith.

"He reminds me of Ian Callaghan at times. They're different players but Cally would also give you everything, running all over the pitch.

"Cally didn't mind putting his foot in either, although he never got booked!"

Meanwhile, as Liverpool prepare to start their Europa League campaign on Thursday night, Smith has warned Rafael Benitez's men not to take anything for granted against the Romanian outfit Unirea Urziceni.

"We can take a few lessons from recent history," he said.

"I remember heading into the FA Cup tie with Reading and there seemed to be no question as to who would progress.

"A draw and a replay later and it hadn't gone according to plan though.

"That's why we must be careful against Unirea Urziceni. If anything is taken for granted, we could be looking at another unwelcome cup upset.

"Although there is one school of thought that says Unirea might simply be happy to be playing at Anfield, they're not a bad side and only narrowly missed out on reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League."

The legendary Kop hardman is hoping Liverpool can show their best form in the Europa League and go all the way to the final in Hamburg.

"While everyone would prefer us to be in that competition, we have to take the Europa League seriously," he said.

"The Liverpool philosophy has always been that, as soon as you went out of one competition, you set out to win the next.

"The Europa League presents an opportunity for us to lift a trophy for the first time since the FA Cup in 2006.

"The club's reputation has been built on silverware and so we shouldn't pass up an opportunity to add to that, be it in the Carling Cup, European Cup or whatever.

"I'd expect to see a strong team sent out against Unirea. We can't afford to be complacent and field all the fringe players and kids.

"Playing an under- strength side would immediately give the opposition an extra lift.

"Plus, people pay good money to come to Anfield and watch the best players. If we want to win the competition we have to respect it."

Video: Masch on Maxi>>