If Mo is Messi, Klopp is Shanks

THEY are impossible to imitate: the Argentine "dwarf" genius, who is the greatest club player of all time, and the long-deceased Scottish manager who turned a second-tier club into a global empire.
It is not just the magnitude of their achievements that makes Lionel Messi and Bill Shankly unique, it's the way they did it: original, idiosyncratic and far-fetched enough to ensure they could never have come out of a factory mould.
So when an Egyptian and a German are suggested as the unlikely replicants, you fear the feelgood factor at Anfield has reached intoxicating levels. Yet such is the impact that both Mo Salah and Jurgen Klopp are making, the comparisons demand scrutiny.
Salah's left foot certainly bears a resemblance to that of the Barcelona superstar. As we saw against Roma, it has the accuracy of a laser, the delicacy of a heart surgeon and the loft of Phil Mickelson's lob wedge on a tight green at Augusta.
This season it has brought him more goals than Messi who, while still scoring consistently and a major reason Barca remain unbeaten in La Liga, has not had the impact that Salah has. But then Salah has hit the Premier League like a country-sized asteroid.
Similarly, in guiding Liverpool to the brink of a Champions League final and another almost certain top four finish in the league, Klopp is beginning to emulate the lofty feats of his most celebrated predecessor. And as with Salah and Messi, the stats do scant justice to the affinity in styles.
The Egyptian is rightly being touted as a candidate to break the decade-long Ballon d'Or duopoly of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Winning the English Player of the Year award is not often a stepping stone to such global recognition, but he's probably in pole position.
The World Cup may play a part and with Salah's Egypt not expected to go any distance, he may be overtaken. But if he can be even half as good again for Liverpool next season, he will surely be in with a shout.
As stunning as his performances have been, they don't match the sheer scale of his improvement. Even though he got change from £40m (Rm219 million), Liverpool owner John Henry complained that he'd paid too much.
After all, Salah's record at Roma was decent but well short of sensational and he had been famously cast off by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. To many observers, he seemed worth a punt as he had pace and goals in him, but even his grandma wouldn't have said he was world-class.
Enter Klopp. After a few games and a few misses, the misses became less and the goals more. Klopp had worked on his confidence – that and the ideal formation were all that were missing.
Although Salah starts on the right wing, he's encouraged to cut inside on his favoured left peg. Liverpool's counter-attacking style opened up the ideal avenues for Salah's pace to exploit. And with a cooler more confident head, he invariably finishes the job.
It is to Klopp that immense credit has to be given. For having faith in a Premier League reject and giving him the perfect stage on which to perform. And for finding unselfish colleagues who are only too willing to pass to him.
It is the emphasis on the team where the German evokes further comparison with the ethos of the great Shanks. The Scot was not just a father figure to Liverpool, he was a father to generations of players – and you see the paternal instinct in Klopp today.
So many have improved under him and Salah is not the only one who has done so out of all recognition. Almost all of them have from the teenage Trent Alexander-Arnold to the bargain buys Andrew Robertson £8 million (RM44 million) and Loris Karius £4.5 million (RM25 million) to £30 million (RM164 million) somethings, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Yes, he has bought the world's most expensive defender in Virgil van Dijk, but what a difference he's made! And Naby Keita is coming for a not cheap £47million (RM257 million) but it's this knack of mixing and matching stars, rejects and kids, and creating a great team spirit that bears the Shankly hallmark.
Even with a few expensive recruits, he is relying on his own ability to make up for the shortfall Liverpool have in funding compared to the Manchester and London clubs. Ability to improve and infuse – what coaching is all about when you get down to it.
Salah is the shining example of this but the unfortunate Oxlade-Chamberlain was an excellent example of what careful man-management can do. The midfielder felt he was wasting away at Arsenal.
Some of Shankly's finest signings were from smaller clubs – Emlyn Hughes from Blackpool, Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence from Scunthorpe, Ron Yeats from Dundee United. All would become giants.
Klopp recently revealed he spent three hours speaking to Salah – "about life, about the world, family and even about football" before signing him: Shankly also delved into a player's character.
Where perhaps they are most similar is their charisma. Both have it in spades, have tempers also and kick every ball. They also love a laugh and are pretty decent with words. Klopp may be more profound, Shanks was pure genius.
The two men are Scottish granite and German Emmanthaler in many ways: Klopp, a university-educated liberal man of the world to Shanks, a man of his time Socialist who wasn't keen on foreigners.
But Shanks was born in 1913 when the world was a very different place. He would have hated much about today's game – agents, headphones, haircuts, diving – yet his values have never resonated more loudly than in a game that could be about to eat itself.
Klopp, who claims he has "the gene for helping people" and connects with the fans, gets what Shankly created and what Liverpool is all about. And just as Salah is the nearest thing to Messi right now, the German is the nearest thing to Shanks that Liverpool are ever likely to see.
Bob's latest book, Living the Dream, is available at all major bookstores and Bob will be signing copies at the Be Bodog's Best Pundit event at the Dugout, Lot G-35, Oasis Village, Retail Mall, Oasis Village, Jln PJU 1A/7A, Ara Damansara on Saturday evening, April 28 after the Liverpool vs Stoke game.