The ‘insane’ Liverpool lynchpin showing Man Utd what they’re missing
If Liverpool had signed Moises Caicedo or Romeo Lavia last summer, as they tried their utmost to, would they still be in the Premier League title race?
Lavia has played just 32 minutes this season for Chelsea, while Caicedo continues to blow hot and cold, his fatal misplaced pass against Manchester United on Thursday the next in a season-long series of errors.
Of course, there’s a fair argument Jurgen Klopp may well have got more out of Lavia and Caicedo than Mauricio Pochettino has, but would either have had the same impact Wataru Endo has?
And equally, if United had signed Endo last summer instead of relying on future Al-Ittihad water carrier Casemiro, would they still be dependent on chaos week-to-week?
Considered a panic buy when Jorg Schmadtke brought him in for just £18m last August, 31-year-old Endo had developed a solid if unspectacular reputation as Stuttgart’s captain, but that was always supposed to be the pinnacle of his career.
He was still playing in the J-League as late as 2018, before one season in Belgium preceded his move to then-2. Bundesliga side Stuttgart.
Last summer, Liverpool were one of a number of top clubs searching for a defensive midfielder, with Bayern Munich among them, but Endo’s name never seemed to come up. Even the now-Japanese captain, a self-professed dreamer, said he never thought he would play for a team like Liverpool.
Across the past eight months, Klopp has called Endo “insane”, “a machine” and “world class”. He has gone from starting just one of the first 10 league games of this season to playing 90 minutes in six of the past eight, only missing the Sheffield United game with a knock.
Potential is supposed to be the reserve of teens and 20-somethings in football, but Endo is proving that untrue. There is a fair argument he will be as crucial to Liverpool’s title charge from here as Mohamed Salah or Alexis Mac Allister.
In fact, what Endo allows Mac Allister to do is among his greatest assets. In the earlier part of the season, the Argentine was used as a the lone holding midfielder, which didn’t suit him. He didn’t score in his first 11 Premier League matches for Liverpool and registered just one assist.
Yet since Endo has been consistently starting in that role, Mac Allister has transformed, with some Liverpool fans already likening him to Steven Gerrard, the highest possible praise on Merseyside.
The former Brighton midfielder has four goals and four assists since moving further forward, unleashed to properly utilise his extraordinary passing range and powerful runs forward.
The same goes for Dominik Szoboszlai, although the results have not been the same quite yet. But considering Liverpool attempted to revolutionise their midfield in one summer, a process which can sometimes take years, the outcome has been extraordinary.
“He jumps through a ceiling, is really good in general defensive challenges, tactically really smart, closing down the right players, good footballer on top of that, good heart, desire, a really good package,” Klopp said not long after Endo signed.
“When you see him running around now there is no chance anyone would give him 30 years, he doesn’t look old enough to drive a car, on the pitch he looks like a monster.”
And watching Manchester United drop five points from winning positions in injury time against Brentford and Chelsea last week, you can’t help but think Endo is exactly the sort of player they need.
Casemiro cost £70m to do the job Endo has for £18m, yet the Brazilian just seems to contribute to the chaos more and more each week. He was brought in to stop the fire but has somehow just becoming kindling.
United have no way of stopping a game, of dictating pace, or maintaining a lead. They exist in a constant state of flux on the pitch largely due to the absence of a figure like Endo – efficient, effective and without ego.
Their overhauled footballing operations team would do well to use Liverpool as a model in a number of areas, but prioritising value and ignoring big names like the Reds did with Endo would be a great place to start. More often than not, world class teams make world class players, rather than being made by them.
