Jurgen Klopp believes Wataru Endo ‘played a super game’ for Liverpool last night as the Reds came from a goal down to beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield.
The Japan International was making just his third start for the club (his first at L4) and grew into the game superbly as Klopp’s side progressed through to the next round of the League Cup.
The 30-year-old registered his first assist since joining from Stuttgart in the summer as he played the ball into Dominik Szoboszlai before the Hungarian nearly broke the net with a ferocious effort from outside the box.
“How I said, now looking back, a top night for us because you look at Wataru, how he grew into the game and how dominant he was in the second half, how he really won the balls, passed the ball,” Klopp said (as quoted by Liverpoolfc.com). “I’m not sure it was the last pass before Dom scores but for sure probably he passed the ball through the lines again, what he did quite frequently. That was really, really good, he played a super game.”
Although our other summer signings Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai are getting most of the plaudits at the moment our new No. 3 has also showed numerous glimpses of his potential when out on the pitch.
It takes time for some players to settle at a new club, especially when making the jump from a relegation-threatened Bundesliga outfit to a top Premier League club, but we’re confident that Endo will be a valuable player for us moving forward.
During the second half last night the dynamic midfielder tidied up nicely and broke up play in the engine room which is work that often goes under the radar.
He was also playing some brilliant passes through the lines rather than passing sideways and backwards – something which many of our midfielders liked to do last season.
The former Sint-Truiden man will only get better as he gets to know his teammates even more and we look forward to seeing him shine further in the future.