Wataru Endo, a 31-year-old midfielder who captains Stuttgart and is also the captain of the Japanese national team, moved to Liverpool in the transfer market last summer.
At first, he was compared to the likes of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, and many were critical of him due to his age and Premier League experience.
However, in December of last year, when the number of injured players was increasing, he showed remarkable performances and quickly won the hearts of the supporters, establishing himself as a defensive midfielder in the team.
Furthermore, he has been trusted by the leadership, even when he had to play a game in three days due to the lack of mainstays of the team, without getting injured.
He was a natural starter in the big game against Manchester City. Early in the game, he was unable to narrow down where he wanted to win the ball, leaving Kevin De Bryne free to do his job, but he did not even let the Belgian midfielder have a touch of the ball.
The Japanese captain, who also played well on the big stage, including a late breakaway and a header, said he was satisfied with his team’s performance and revealed that he and his midfield partner, Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, are good together.
“The atmosphere was amazing,”
“Of course I wanted to win for our fans, but the result was not too bad, I think.”
“[In the] second half, we had more chances than Man City, in my opinion. So yeah, we are disappointed about the result but we need to move forward.”
“We created more chances. Of course we could only score one, but the way we played, with how we created the chances, I think it was amazing. If we keep playing like we did, the results will come.”
“He (Mac Allister) ‘s incredible,”
“We always try to help each other, especially when we have the ball. I have a very good feeling with him.
“And these younger players [produced] an amazing performance. Now [the] injured players are coming back, little by little, so I think that we are on a good way right now.”
“At the end of the season, this one point might be important. That’s what we want to say. So, we need to keep playing like [this] and just try to win every game.”
Lliverpoolfc.com