Japan midfielder Wataru Endo’s arrival at Liverpool came as a surprise, as at 30 years of age he was thought to be off the target list, but the club was looking for the leadership and experience they had lost with Jordan Henderson and James Milner.
The defensive midfielder’s ability is also highly valued by Klopp, and he came off the bench for the home opener against Bournemouth to showcase the play he has developed in the Bundesliga.
He was expected to be introduced in the final minutes of the game, but after Alexis Mac Allister left the pitch because of red card, he replaced Cody Gakpo in the 63rd minute.
Although his coordination with others is still developing, he showed glimpses of proper positioning, calmness, and strength on the ball. While the team will have to adjust to the Premier League standards, the German manager revealed about his pre-match discussions with the Japanese captain, who made a fine debut.
“Horrible [circumstances]. First game, coming in, and I think we saw Harvey [Elliott] is in a really good moment but Harvey came on as well in this game and was running left and right and then his heart rate was 240 probably and that was pretty much the same for Endo. “
“It was two days he had so no surprise that, [while] he did absolutely alright, he came there [and] had no clue what to do. I spoke this morning with him about how with 11 players his position would look, but a 4-4-1 was not involved in our conversation.”
“That’s it now. I don’t think he slept a lot in the last two nights so he came on now and threw everything on the pitch he had and that’s it.”
Liverpool.com
He showed a performance that will serve him well in the future as long as he and his teammates communicate better and understand each other’s game.
The Argentine midfielder is likely to be suspended for the next game, and a chance to start as soon as possible may arrive…