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He was purchased for 16m pounds and that transfer value, as shown earlier, was seen by the wider footballing community as ‘Liverpool making a panic buy’.
In this video I’m going to dive into what Liverpool saw in Endo that other clubs did not, and how his efforts for Liverpool this season have played an integral role in their current title ambitions.
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Adrift Among Infinite Stars
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Liverpool signing wataru Endo from stuckart and listen let’s not sit here and pretend that we have any clue who this guy was the main question that I’m asking you is one had you ever heard of him I don’t think any of us can confidently say yes when you come to Liverpool I thinking okay good experienced player I didn’t think he could get to the levels of that in terms of the intensity of the game is this a panic by is this a panic by from Liverpool or is it a of true business or is it a rud [Music] [Laughter] signing before the 2023 24 season Liverpool faced a huge problem of replacing their entire starting Midfield and many people outside the club suggested that this transitional period for Liverpool would create a tough obstacle to overcome in order to have a successful season however once Liverpool had reached the end of the transfer window they had largely solved their issues there was just one position left to fill the holding midfielder potentially the most important aspect of Liverpool’s defense was this role not only a defensive stopper that would disrupt counterattacks but a player who could recover the ball and progress the ball forward for a counter Counterattack in fact Liverpool valued this position so much that they put in a 110 million bid for Brighton’s mois kaiso and a 45 million bid for Romeo Lavia both of which were bettered by Chelsea after those two transfers fell through they turned their eyes to Japan and stutgart midfielder wataru Endo he was purchased for £16 million and with that transfer value he was seen by The Wider footballing Community as Liverpool making a panic buy but I have been watching Liverpool very closely for a long time as I am a Liverpool fan so present byas aside it has been quite rare that Liverpool have ever made a Panic by under klopp and they have shown through his outstanding performances for Liverpool this season that he is far from a panic by in this video I’m going to dive into what Liverpool saw in Endo that other clubs did not and how his efforts for Liverpool this season have played an integral role in their title Ambitions a role he has played before at his previous Club stutgart Endo had played for a multitude of clubs in his career shonan belare and urua red diamonds two clubs playing in Japanese professional football and Cen a Belgian football club playing in the highest tier of Belgian football Endo had spent 9 years between these clubs before making the move to stutgart at the time stutgart was playing in the Bundesliga 2 the German second division and they were looking to return to the Bundesliga after being relegated the season prior in terms of endo’s positioning in this stutgart team Endo would be one of a central Midfield partnership playing in a 3 421 formation he would act as the defense I stopper and Midfield pivot Shifting the ball from the back line to the forward line he would not act as a box-to-box midfielder but would stay on the edge of the box if they had the ball high up the pitch the move for Endo was initially alone but after finishing second place in the league and achieving promotion Endo was seen as a key player in their starting 11 and stutgart made the move permanent Endo made 120 appearances for the club with 119 of those being starts he scored 13 goals and provided 10 assist assists racking up 11 yellow cards in the process but he did not receive a single red card after achieving promotion to the Bundesliga the team finished ninth in the league but the next two seasons they would begin to taper off finishing 15th and 16th the season prior to Liverpool’s purchase of endo proved to be crucial in their decision-making process the key areas of play that Liverpool analyzed about Endo were his defensive capabilities and his playmaking skills in the 2022 23 season he made 7 tackles 30 of those tackles being in the defensive third and 31 being in the Midfield third he had an overall tackle success rate of 53% he made 44 blocks 26 interceptions and 63 clearances in terms of his playmaking he completed 1,170 passes with a completion rate of 79.2% in that season he provided four assists with 84 shot creating actions and nine goal creating actions he progressively carried the ball up the pitched 32 instances and made 171 Progressive passes with 28 of those being passes into the penalty area this was exactly what Liverpool was looking for and his time at stutgart caught Liverpool’s attention but there was another weapon in endo’s Arsenal to analyze and that was his time with the Japanese national team he is currently the team’s Captain but he has been one of the country’s most important players for many years now in that team he acts as one of a holding Midfield duo in a 4231 formation he acts as the defensive stopper once again he plays that deep Ling playmaker and stays back on attack or just in front of the center backs his abilities were highlighted especially in the 2022 World Cup where he played in all four matches starting in three of them in that tournament he made eight tackles four of them in the defensive third and four in the Midfield third with a tackle success rate of 50% he made eight blocks three interceptions and six clearances in terms of his playmaking he completed 155 passes with a completion rate of 80.7% keeping consistent with his rate at stutgart although he did not provide any assists he made 10 shot creating actions and one goal creating action he made three Progressive carries up the field and played 17 Progressive passes with two of those being passes directly into the penalty area his proficiency to thrive in the highest pressure environments such as the World Cup paired with his grit determination and consistency for a relegation Scrapper such as stutgart gave Liverpool the perfect reason to turn to him following their broken down transfers after all Liverpool needed a player like him in fact they already had the blueprint for a player like him that being fabinho who had left the season prior if Liverpool were looking to contend for the premier league title once again most of their defensive actions required a defensive stopper and a Counterattack starter in that holding Midfield space and fabinho had filled that role perfectly during their title winning season in 2020 in that season he made 28 appearances 22 of those being starts he scored two goals and provided three assists in terms of his defensive capabilities he made 62 tackles That season with 20 of those being in the defensive third and 35 in the Midfield third he had a tackle success rate of 56% he made 25 blocks 34 interceptions and 19 clearances in terms of his playmaking he completed 1,381 passes with a completion rate of 86.7% he made 50 shot creating actions and five goal creating actions during that season he also made 19 Progressive carries up the pitch and played 129 Progressive passes with 19 of those being passes directly into the penalty area this was the blueprint but the Liverpool then has changed slightly to become the Liverpool we see now in 2020 Liverpool would play the same formation however the backline would mostly remain as a four in possession either of the three in Midfield would come deep to receive the ball and for most shifts around the back line the holding midfielder would be responsible for leading Defenders away to create free space for the attacking midfielders and the highflying fullbacks in today’s possession system one of the fullbacks tucks in with the holding midfielder to create a partnership while the back line becomes a three or the fullback will still be Central but will move into an attacking Midfield or inside forward rle meaning that the closest Center back would shift to the space left open by the fullback opening the space between the center backs which the remaining holding midfielder would at times move into the responsibility held by this holding midfielder in Liverpool’s current system extends beyond the simple stopping of counterattacks and passing forward as Liverpool have evolved into slower buildup play the holding midfielder has become more essential to progressing the ball up and around the field so Endo had a huge role to fill he has made 21 appearances this season with 13 of those being starts he has scored a single goal but has yet to provide an assist in terms of his defensive capabilities he has made made 32 tackles this season seven of those being in the defensive third and 21 in the Midfield third he has a tackle success rate of 56% he has made 17 blocks 14 interceptions and 22 clearances in terms of his playmaking he has completed 761 passes with a completion rate of 87.7% he has made 39 shot creating actions and two goal creating actions he has made six Progressive carries up the field playing 62 Progressive passes with 16 of those being passes directly into the penalty area fabinho has played more games for Liverpool but fabinho had already played for Liverpool a season prior this is endo’s first season so he has needed time to adjust on average fabinho makes more tackles but endo’s tackles occur further up the pitch and both possess the same tackling success rate this shows endo’s role in this current Liverpool system both are just as capable tacklers but Endo applies his craft in a different way in this system he has moved further up the pit when Liverpool shift into their defensive shape meaning that counterattacks can start further up the pitch once Endo has won the ball back fabinho makes more blocks and interceptions but Endo makes more clearances again this is down to the Liverpool system Liverpool need a player to clean up the play as there are stronger players in the lineup to perform blocks such as the center backs the interceptions however is purely fabinho’s strength he was one of the best at cutting those passing Lanes fabinho plays more passes than Endo but Endo has a a completion rate it once again shows the role Endo has in this system although he is less involved in the buildup when Endo is called upon he will be more effective in those playmaking scenarios Endo makes more shot creating actions but less goal creating actions and endo’s Progressive stats are significantly less than what fabino are but funnily enough he is more efficient at passes into the penalty area mixed with his passing efficiency Endo shows he is more effective and the passes he makes will be more influential throughout the game although his Progressive stats are lower it just means that Endo does not always have to play the ball forward to create opportunities maybe shifting passes to the open man can create opportunities better for him but in saying that when he has the opportunity he has been more effective at playing passes into the penalty area the difference in goal creating actions however is more down to the current Liverpool team who have been criticized for their lack of efficiency in front of goal nonetheless Endo has fit into Liverpool like a hand in a glove he has helped Liverpool achieve a League Cup earlier this season and has recorded multiple man-of-the match performances for the team Liverpool currently sit in first place with eight games left in the Premier League season and are currently facing Atlanta in the quarterfinals of the Europa League the team currently are attempting to achieve a treble in what will be klopp’s final season at Liverpool and although rotation of players is necessary to ensure a healthy and competitive Liverpool side Endo is one player that can put in the graft no matter how tired he is recently Liverpool played five games in 13 days days and with taru Endo was the only player to start in all five of those games but probably the most impressive statistic is that Endo is currently sitting in first in the Premier League for points achieved per game in which he has played where in the games he has played he has averaged 2.48 points per game he has quickly become a fan favorite amongst the Liverpool massive and I don’t think that anyone now can at all claim that he was a panic by and he will be an integral part in Liverpool’s future hope you all enjoyed I’ve been Robo and I’ll see you next time
