Jurgen Klopp admits Wataru Endo had ‘absolutely no clue’ what to do on Liverpool debut
Jurgen Klopp says Wataru Endo made his Liverpool debut in ‘horrible’ circumstances, admitting that the new arrival ‘had absolutely no idea what to do’ in the situation.
The 30-year-old was only unveiled as a Liverpool player on Friday after his unexpected move from Stuttgart.
The Japan captain was immediately put on the bench at Anfield on Saturday and was thrown into the action 63 minutes in, replacing Cody Gakpo.
Endo thrown into chaotic situation
The substitution was made just as Diogo Jota made it 3-1 to Liverpool, but they were not entirely comfortable as shortly beforehand Alexis Mac Allister had been shown a straight red card.
It was a fairly chaotic final 30 minutes that Endo was thrown into, and Klopp did not exactly expect him to shine in the circumstances.
On Endo’s debut, Klopp said: ‘Horrible [circumstances]. First game, coming in, I think we saw that Harvey [Elliott], who’s in a really good moment, came on in this game as well and was running left and right and the heart rate was 240.
‘Pretty much the same for Endo. The two days he had – no surprise! He did absolutely alright, but he came there and had absolutely no clue what to do.
‘I spoke this morning with him about how, with 11 players, his position would look. A 4-4-1 was not involved in our conversation. That’s it now.
‘I don’t think he slept a lot in the last two nights, so he came on and threw everything he had onto the pitch. That’s it.’
Luis Diaz opens scoring for Liverpool
Luis Diaz opened the scoring for Liverpool, his second goal in two games, and Klopp is delighted to have the winger fully fit after injury troubles last season.
‘When Lucho is fit, I think nobody has any doubt about his quality,’ said Klopp. ‘It was an exceptional goal he scored, an absolutely exceptional goal.
‘Top-class, in a very good shape, but the second half was really tough for him as well. Being part of this new midfield, that was really hard for him and you could see that.
‘Besides that, as long as he was fresh and everything he was obviously super, super. A massive threat for everybody. He is in a good moment, no doubt about it.’
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