Just a day after joining Liverpool, Wataru Endo was substituted against Bournemouth, but Jurgen Klopp thought he handled the situation well.
The expression “thrown in at the deep end” certainly applies to Endo’s performance last weekend.
Alexis Mac Allister’s dismissal left Liverpool with just 10 players, so Klopp turned to his new addition, who had only participated in one practice.
Klopp was pleased with his performance and said: “It’s still early days, but, yes, you are right [he can contribute],” helping to finish the game.
Additionally, it arrived after roughly 1.5 days, or roughly half a session. It’s really challenging to play on a team that must defend with 10 men, but I believe he did really well in that regard.
This week, he will be here for three or four sessions. He appears good. He’s an excellent player, the manager continued.
“Yes, it was unexpected, but I was really delighted about it.
We were going to bring him in from the bench, but clearly a little later and in a different circumstance. He performed well, and we can now utilise that. If you like, I’ll place the first marker, and we can move forward from there.
Endo will be essential to Liverpool this season because Thiago is still sidelined and Stefan Bajcetic is slowly making his way back to the first squad.
He might mean the difference between competing for honours and the Champions League.
