by Wataru Endo is the ultimate defensive shield for Liverpool defenders. Or perhaps gumshield would be more appropriate.
The Japanese international appears to be preparing for 12 rounds in the boxing ring rather than a football match, which has strangely brought him to the Kop during an impressive run.
“When I was in Germany I met a Japanese dentist; he told me it’s a good mouth piece, it does something different in terms of performance,” Endo told Sky Sports recently.
“Now I wear it to protect my teeth and it’s also like a fighter, so when I go into the field I just put the mouth and it’s like game mode.”
The 31-year-old, who was on duty against Sheffield United on Thursday night, should be back for this weekend with Manchester United in another emblem of the clubs’ contrasting recruitment choices which have gone in different directions.
It seems like a lifetime ago since United played Liverpool with their world-renowned and highly decorated Brazilian midfielder, Casemiro considered in some quarters the difference in Erik ten Hag to lead his club back into the top four the best as Jurgen Klopp prepares for the Champions League in exile in time. caught up with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner.
Casemiro cost £70 million, and is unlikely to have taken a pay cut from the £200,000-a-week surplus he was earning at Real Madrid.
Endo was unfashionably cheaper at current market rates, £18 million on a contract probably less than half of United’s counterpart. Both are in their early 30s, but while Endo’s performances this season have faded and he has retired from midfield at Liverpool – Klopp predicting his successor will ‘want to give him another long-term contract’ – there is a constant feeling that the best of Casemiro is behind him. , the occasional reminder of his class isn’t enough to silence those who think he’s representative of the excesses of Old Trafford’s transfer strategy.
If former Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward’s farewell gift was Alexis McAllister, Endo was Jörg Schmadtke’s eureka moment.
Schmadtke was only hired to cover two transfer windows, and his arrival was greeted with some skepticism as to what will go down in history as Michael Edwards’ two-year Anfield sabbatical.
But his knowledge of the Bundesliga ensured he and Klopp recognized what a few other elite clubs had done in watching Endo in Stuttgart’s midfield over the past three years.
As Klopp has since admitted, Liverpool were lucky to make a move for the Japanese skipper as they spent most of last summer trying to lure Romeo Lavia, before making a staggering £111million bid for Moises Caicedo – sliding doors moments in Klopp’s farewell campaign.
Given his age profile, Endo was an atypical signing, the move seen as rash by those who believed Klopp could do no wrong, and a desperate emergency response by others who questioned whether the manager and Schmadtke watching from Anfield’s recruitment policy. which was so successful. With so many clubs chasing the No. 6 – including Bayern Munich who regularly faced Endo in the Bundesliga – it only served to increase cynicism about how good he could be.
“The owners want a 20-year-old who has played 200 games,” admitted Klopp when he completed the deal. “I know people are asking why nobody signed it [Endo] before.”
Given the initial cynicism, it’s no coincidence that Klopp greeted Endo with the most direct praise ever given to one of his signings, revealing an array of congratulatory text messages from his German friends for a ‘genius’ move.
“He continues through the ceiling, he is very good in defensive challenges in general, intellectually very smart, closing down the right players, a good footballer on top of that, good heart, desire, a really good package,” said Klopp last August.
“When you see him running around now there’s no way anyone would call him 30, he doesn’t look old enough to drive a car, he looks like a monster on the pitch.”
Despite an inauspicious start, Klopp is very defensive.
But while energy, tenacity and recovery of possession like the Terrier are obvious attributes, it is the impact on those around Endo that has had the biggest impact on Liverpool’s season, particularly his midfield partner Mac Allister.
As Endo adapted to Klopp’s system and Mac Allister as the No. 6 defender, the Argentine registered no goals, one assist and five shots in his first 11 games in the Premier League.
Since establishing himself as Endo – he has lost just four of his last 19 league games (three on Asian Cup duty) – Mac Allister has four goals, four assists and 24 shots, unleashing his creative talents in midfield the field is well leveled.
Endo is a shy, low-maintenance presence around Liverpool’s training ground, content that others are enjoying prominence in the title push.
He cannot escape the fact that he and Mac Allister are in the middle of an almighty battle every week for status as Liverpool’s bargain of the season. No wonder Endo keeps wearing that gumshield.
