“Wataru Endo is a key cog in the Liverpool machine at the top of the table. Endo’s absence is a big blow.”
English Premier League (EPL) leaders Liverpool are sending their top scorer Mohamed Salah to the Africa Cup of Nations in the new year. Amid concerns from fans about Liverpool without Salah, like Tottenham without Son Heung-min, the British newspaper Daily Mail said on Jan. 3 (KST), “Salah is a blow, but Liverpool’s loss of the composed Wataru Endo is also a huge blow.
It went on to praise Endo, born in 1993, who has been in a Liverpool shirt this season for a transfer fee of £16 million. ‘The £16m Japanese star has now developed into a key cog in Jürgen Klopp’s leading Liverpool side,’ he said.
‘The best tribute to Wataru Endo is that no one talks about his age anymore,’
He wrote, ‘another tribute is that no one talks about the likes of Moises Caicedo or Romero Rabia. After failing to sign defensive midfield duo Caicedo and Rabia last summer, Liverpool turned to 30-year-old Endo from mid-table Bundesliga side Stuttgart, with fans criticizing the move as a ‘lack of ambition’. The Reds were prepared to pay the Premier League’s highest transfer fee for Ecuadorian Brighton midfielder Kayseredo, and given the circumstances surrounding Kayseredo’s move to Chelsea, criticism was inevitable, but Endo turned out to be exactly what Klopp and the Reds wanted.
‘He’s 30 and not a decade-changer for Liverpool in the way Virgil van Dijk or Alisson were, but at £16.2 million, Endo is one of the most sensational signings in European football,’ said the Daily Mail, adding: ‘I wonder how many Liverpool fans had heard of him before last summer – probably less than one or two percent. Four months on, 바카라사이트 Endo has been serenaded by Cobb and emerged as the hero of a huge January loss (absence for the Asian Cup).
‘Endo is now out of the country for the Asian Cup and Alexis McAllister, who has recovered from a knee injury, will be able to play in the number six position, but the Japanese captain will be sorely missed by the fans while he is in Qatar,’ he added. ‘Japan always do well at the Asian Cup, so Liverpool won’t expect Endo back until at least mid-February. This means that Endo will miss quite a few important games, including the FA Cup tie against Arsenal, the Carabao Cup semifinal, and league games.
‘Egypt international Salah’s departure for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast has been discussed and analyzed for months as a possible turning point in the title race, but Endo’s departure hasn’t hit the headlines, but the absence of Endo, nicknamed ‘Leg-Endo’ for ‘legend’ during his time at Stuttgart, will be a major blow to Klopp’s side.”
Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk said of Endo shortly after the Newcastle game
“He is a very solid number six, (defensive midfielder). In modern football, all the top teams have a very important number six. It’s one of the most underrated roles on the pitch, but it’s a very important role, protecting someone, linking up with the front line. Endo has stepped up his game and we will miss him.”
During his time in the Bundesliga, Endo was a fighter who won the most balls in the back three (254), won the most aerial battles (219), made the most clearances (175) and cleared the most headers (105), earning him the nickname ‘duel king’. “Endo has a simple tackling technique that no other Liverpool midfielder has,” Klopp once said.
“He is more than a midfielder, always breaking the line with his passes and staying calm under pressure,” the Daily Mail wrote, referring to a book Endo wrote in Japan for young soccer players and their parents called Duel. “Through his book ‘Duel’ and video platforms, Endo analyzes his own performances, evaluates young players and gives advice to parents, and it shows his studious nature and analytical brain, which have been crucial in his adaptation to Liverpool.”
‘Klopp had to work hard to persuade the owners to sign the 30-year-old in a departure from his usual strategy of bringing in young players, but Endo is, as Klopp says, a late bloomer who shows no signs of slowing down. He reiterated that while Salah’s absence will be Liverpool’s biggest void in January, Endo’s departure will be felt just as much.