Wataru Endo, in many ways the exception to the rule in Liverpool’s new team, will return to the AXA Training Center in good spirits
Jurgen Klopp compares Wataru Endo to Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia
In some ways, Wataru Endo seems to be the exception to the rule in Liverpool.
After reluctantly adding Jordan Henderson and Fabinho earlier this summer in a mass midfield exodus that also included James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita, the master plan for the Reds’ recruitment team was to bring younger and more durable players in transfer involvement. window.
At the ages of 24, 22 and 21 respectively, the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch have achieved this, with Jurgen Klopp seemingly keen to rebuild his midfield with technical certainty at the forefront of his reflection on moments difficult.
tactics that have been characteristic of recent years.
At age 30, Endo represents a break in that strategy.
Instead he added experience to a squad whose average age has dropped.
Such is Liverpool’s general recruitment policy when it comes to age that Klopp has revealed he has to convince owners Fenway Sports Group to approve the £16million deal to sign Endo from Stuttgart due to their reservations last month.
“It’s always a discussion we have,” Klopp said. “The owners really want 200 games in 20 years. Its pretty hard.
I didn’t need to be convinced. I know that the best time for a footballer in a normal career is between the ages of 27 and 33. Of course, injuries matter.
That’s why I didn’t have to change anything and it was on my list from the start.
But even if Endo starts as a senior with 13 years of experience, as Klopp indicates, his age is not yet at the stage where a player’s performance could naturally decline.
Rather, it is hoped that the defensive-minded Endo will join his more forward-looking and younger colleagues in a renovated engine room at Liverpool this season.
If some raised eyebrows when the former Stuttgart star was caught unexpectedly in left field, that may have had more to do with the timing of the deal than anything else.
The fact that Endo was signed for £16m just days after the collapse of what would have been a British record £111m contract for Moises Caicedo lent credence to the theory of muddled thinking behind the scenes at Liverpool this summer .
Had Endo been signed earlier, his relatively modest fee and profile as an international captain capable of providing reliable cover would surely have been seen in a flatter light.
“It’s a transfer that is not in the public eye,” Klopp said. “It’s not ‘oh my God!’ and probably no one is writing a new song about him right now. But wait. “He’s got something that the Liverpool fans will absolutely love.
He’s already used to wearing a bit of red, so that’s good. When he puts on that shirt he’ll throw everything on the pitch and people will love it.” “
While many Liverpool fans were unaware of Endo’s talent before his move to Merseyside, many die-hard Bundesliga observers saw the value in him.
Klopp received several messages from his home country congratulating him on his intelligence once the deal was completed, including several World Cup winners.
If his age contrasts with that of his fellow rookies, his specific skills are also very different.
While Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch will provide poise, poise and comfort in possession in the opposition’s third, Endo was bought for the sharpness of his defensive instincts. Do not miss it
Since the only natural “No.” 6′ on the wing – in the typical sense of the role – Endo will serve for his ability to cover the ground, make tackles and win the ball back for the team’s most natural offensive craftsmen.
And with the Japan captain arriving on Merseyside at breakneck speed over the course of a few days after the start of the season less than a month ago, it will be good to see him earn valuable minutes for the ‘Samurai Blue’ while on international duty.
Klopp, especially when he is the protagonist of the 4-1 victory over Germany in Wolfsburg.
The Reds manager will no doubt have watched with keen interest as Endo helped keep Hansi Flick’s men at bay at the Volkswagen Arena with a midfield display full of hard work and tenacity.
As a fiercely proud German, seeing Endo shine will likely have left Klopp with mixed feelings on Saturday night, but he is certainly relishing the chance to really get to work putting together his midfield on the other side of the international breakthrough.
