{"id":290434,"date":"2023-10-08T01:24:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T01:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=290434"},"modified":"2023-10-08T01:24:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T01:24:07","slug":"endo-surprised-by-his-liverpool-move-but-is-filling-midfield-hole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/endo-surprised-by-his-liverpool-move-but-is-filling-midfield-hole\/","title":{"rendered":"Endo &apos;surprised&apos; by his Liverpool move but is filling midfield hole"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Wataru Endo may have been &#8216;surprised&#8217; by his move to Liverpool but he is filling the hole left behind by Jordan Henderson and Fabinho at Anfield<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wataru Endo is one of five international captains in Liverpool&#8217;s dressing room\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He has admitted his switch was a surprise but is filling a gaping midfield hole\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While some clubs lack leaders, Liverpool can boast five international captains in their squad. The latest, Japan&#8217;s Wataru Endo, acknowledges his signing was a &#8216;surprise&#8217; but insists Jurgen Klopp knows what he&#8217;s doing filling the midfield hole vacated by Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.<\/p>\n<p>Endo&#8217;s deal from Stuttgart was rushed less than a fortnight before the transfer window shut when Liverpool lost out to Chelsea for Moises Caicedo.<\/p>\n<p>At 30, the tigerish midfield holder doesn&#8217;t fit the normal younger profile of Liverpool signings. But the team are unbeaten in the four starts he&#8217;s made so far with another likely at Brighton on Sunday with Curtis Jones suspended.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It was a surprise to Liverpool fans for me to come here but the manager knew me very well as a player. That was a very important thing,&#8217; says Endo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I had conversations with him. He told me Liverpool were such an attacking team, they needed a number six, a defensive midfielder. That&#8217;s why I came.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/00\/76289681-12606367-image-a-143_1696720002675.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo has revealed he was surprised at his summer move<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/01\/76289697-12606367-Jurgen_Klopp_drafted_in_Japan_captain_Endo_to_fill_the_role_vaca-a-120_1696724381854.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jurgen Klopp drafted in Japan captain Endo to fill the role vacated by Jordan Henderson<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I watched his matches when he was at Dortmund because my ex-coach liked to copy Klopp&#8217;s style of me.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He (Klopp) told me that he&#8217;d known of me when I was at Stuttgart.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool&#8217;s greatest recent successes came when a midfield trio of James Milner, Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum complemented each other the famous front three of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.<\/p>\n<p>To bring it forward, Wataru&#8217;s strengths should allow Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister the license to create.<\/p>\n<p>He joins a dressing-room full of leaders. Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Andy Robertson (Scotland), Mo Salah (Egypt) and Szoboszlai (Hungary) are their national team captains.<\/p>\n<p>Among Endo&#8217;s players with Japan is Brighton&#8217;s Kaoru Mitoma. Fans will stay up in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama late on Sunday night to see their countrymen do battle.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/01\/76289751-12606367-Endo_s_strengths_will_allow_Dominik_Szoboszlai_and_Alexis_Mac_Al-a-121_1696724381857.jpg\" height=\"551\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Endo&#8217;s strengths will allow\u00a0Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister the license to create<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/01\/76289753-12606367-There_are_five_international_captains_in_Liverpool_s_dressing_ro-a-122_1696724381858.jpg\" height=\"506\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>There are five international captains in Liverpool&#8217;s dressing room, with Virgil van Dijk one<\/p>\n<p>Endo has fitted into the dressing-room. He speaks decent English from his time in Germany and so too do his children who went to international school there and joined him on Merseyside last week.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The Bundesliga is also fast and strong. The difference here is the German teams like to sit back more when they defend, here at Liverpool we always press high,&#8217; reflects Endo, who was a substitute during last weekend&#8217;s dramatic defeat at Spurs when VAR failed to award Liverpool&#8217;s Luis Diaz a legitimate goal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;What I do in a game hasn&#8217;t changed from what I did with Stuttgart and the national team. Whatever game I watch, I look out for the No6 position to see how they play.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The first couple of games were difficult because we went down to 10 men. I think I&#8217;ve adapted and showing my best on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I feel more comfortable and it helps the other players are also beginning to know me better.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Klopp&#8217;s decision to withdraw Endo and Mo Salah off at half-time during Thursday&#8217;s Europa League win against Union Saint-Gilloise indicates he sees the Japanese star as a starter at the Amex.<\/p>\n<p>Endo is only the 12th Japanese player to appear in the Premier League. He, Mitoma and Arsenal&#8217;s Takehiro Tomiyasu are the only current ones and Sunday&#8217;s game will carry big bragging rights in the Far East.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/01\/76289759-12606367-Endo_has_fitted_into_the_squad_and_he_speaks_decent_English_from-a-123_1696724381860.jpg\" height=\"453\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Endo has fitted into the squad and he speaks decent English from his spell in Germany<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/08\/01\/76289761-12606367-The_anchor_believes_his_example_shows_that_dreams_for_footballer-a-124_1696724381861.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The anchor believes his example shows that dreams for footballers of all ages can come true<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It will be a pleasure to face Mitoma,&#8217; said Endo. &#8216;There aren&#8217;t that many Japanese players here so the fans there are interested.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I was 30 when I came to Liverpool \u2013 a big surprise. It shows all the footballers in Japan, keep dreaming, if you keep improving it can happen. The dream can come true.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I hope there is respect for Japanese football now. I thought Mitoma might do well here and he has done.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Liverpool fans in Japan will stay up and watch! They want us to achieve and we will try to challenge for as many titles as possible.&#8217;<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12606367\/Wataru-Endo-Liverpool-Jordan-Henderson-Fabinho-Anfield-Jurgen-Klopp.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wataru Endo may have been &#8216;surprised&#8217; by his move to Liverpool but he is filling the hole left behind by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Endo &amp;apos;surprised&amp;apos; 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