Liverpool’s Wataru Endo was brought on against Bournemouth just 24 hours after signing, but Jurgen Klopp thought he handled the situation well.
If there were ever a time to use the cliche ‘thrown in at the deep end’, it was for Endo’s appearance last weekend.
With Liverpool down to 10 men after Alexis Mac Allister‘s red card, Klopp turned to his new signing who had trained just once with the team.
Helping to see the game out, Klopp was impressed by his performance, saying: “It’s still early days, but, yes, you are right [he can contribute].
“It came, on top of that, after one and half days pretty much, half a session. Playing in a team who has to defend with 10 men is really difficult, I think he did really exceptionally for that.”
Going forwards, Klopp will likely be playing him as his regular No. 6 this season.
“Now we have him here for three or four sessions this week. [He] looks good. He’s a really good player,” the manager added”
“I was really happy and no it was not expected.
“We had him on the bench to bring him on, but obviously later and in a slightly different situation. So he did well and now we can use that. The first marker is set if you want, and we can go from there.”
With Thiago still out and Stefan Bajcetic making a slow return to the first team, Endo will be crucial to Liverpool this season.
He could be the difference between fighting for the Champions League and fighting for trophies.
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