With the advantage of hindsight, it was precisely what was wanted on the proper time. However it’s also truthful to say that Wataru Endo’s arrival was greeted with its fair proportion of raised eyebrows.
Liverpool’s title-challenging midfield is sort of unrecognisable from the one which did not land a high 4 place for the primary time in seven seasons simply 10 months in the past.
Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all waved their goodbyes on the ultimate day of the 2022/23 marketing campaign and made manner for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai initially of the summer season, however the engine refit wasn’t achieved there.
The previous introduced a World Cup medal with him, whereas the sheer price ticket and popularity of the latter was sufficient to shortly get the followers on board.
Then alongside got here Wataru Endo, a £16 million curveball from Stuttgart who no person knew something about, not to mention noticed coming.
Scratched heads
His arrival was met by a blended reception, with the intuition of many being that he was merely the primary course so far as filling the No. 6 void was involved following the additional departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the Saudi Professional League.
It couldn’t probably be that an unknown 30-year-old amount was the reply to our prayers on the base of the midfield, significantly given the failed mega-money makes an attempt to land Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo that ensued.
The subsequent dish needed to be one thing substantial, somebody with a trendy identify or an attention-grabbing price ticket, didn’t it?
And but, as soon as once more, many amongst us have been made to appear like fools for our scepticism. After a short bedding in interval the Japan captain grew to become a significant cog within the machine, his significance underlined by the fears sparked by his departure to the Asia Cup.
The squad’s solely specialist senior defensive midfielder has been borderline undroppable in current months, all whereas Alexis Mac Allister has seemed equally spectacular when requested to drop deeper within the center.
Regardless of having now turned 31, the four-year deal handed to him through the summer season maybe must have served as a sign that Jurgen Klopp wasn’t viewing him because the stopgap signing many believed him to be, with or with out the advantage of hindsight.
We’ve got grow to be accustomed to unearthing gems within the sweet-spot interval earlier than they hit their prime, however doing so with a participant who already had 13 years {of professional} soccer beneath his belt actually looks like an anomaly.
Hitting his stride
Endo was scintillating throughout Liverpool’s present of defiance in opposition to Man Metropolis at Anfield, simply as he had been at Wembley two weeks earlier.
There are nonetheless events on which he’ll enable himself the early interval to really feel out an opponent throughout video games, very similar to elite boxers use the primary few rounds to scope out potential areas of hazard.
It will probably seem in these situations that he’s taking time to develop into matches, however the actuality is that he’s utilizing all of his expertise and sport intelligence to observe simply how he anticipates his function to play out over the 90 minutes.
Praising his relentless work charge and willingness to place his physique on the road for the trigger would really feel inadequate when it comes to what he has supplied to date this season.
However he has visibly performed like somebody hellbent on grabbing this considerably sudden alternative with each fingers, after which some.
He has three fellow summer season arrivals to compete with in the course of the park, together with two of Liverpool’s most constant performers all through 2023/24 in Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott.
And but, ought to Liverpool discover themselves needing a win to safe the Premier League title in opposition to Wolves in Could, or in a Europa League ultimate three days later, you’d be hard-pushed to search out purpose to go away Endo out no matter what number of match and accessible choices the supervisor has.
Silencing the doubters
In equity, the preliminary August scepticism was considerably comprehensible given the observe report of buying gamers of their early 20s and permitting them to blow up on our books.
However what Endo has proved is that the membership can efficiently stray from conference when the best alternatives current themselves.
Legitimate considerations have been raised a couple of lack expertise and management inside the dressing room when each the captain and vice-captain departed inside a matter of months of one another.
Because the chief of his nationwide staff with a bunch of miles on his personal clock, Endo was seen as a really perfect answer to redress that steadiness, however he has gone above and past all expectations with the degrees he has proven on the pitch.
New signings scarcely fly out of the blocks, Luis Diaz and Szoboszlai proving themselves to be among the many exceptions lately, however Liverpool very not often miss within the switch market and there’ll at all times be a way to the insanity.
As is commonly the case, the Endo doubters are actually just about non-existent and his catchy new tune speaks volumes for the fondness now felt from the terraces.
Maybe it’s time to cease judging signings earlier than they’ve kicked a ball and go away the specialists to it.
