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Liverpool, Wataru upto?

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Hard to explain this unless you're Asian, but he looks like that guy in the movies who barely says a word until his younger, better looking, sibling gets caught fucking the mobster's wife in a gambling den and is about to get sliced in two. Then Wataru Endo barges in, beats the shit out of everyone, then drags his younger brother home and beats the shit out of him too.

Only ever eats plain white rice, drinks no alcohol and wears the same underwear everyday.
Just like that Jet Lee movie .... Romeo Must Die !!!
 
Imagine getting to 30 thinking that you've possibly gone as far as you can in your career and then getting a call from Liverpool FC, realising Jurgen Klopp is about to be your new boss!

Great story.
 
I've seen some interesting texts about this and opinions of Endo from within the game and from people close to the deal. But they're off the record so I'm gonna just drop that in here and saunter off.

It's all positive stuff, though.

You are renowned for being on the record 99% of the time
 


Thank you, Wataru!
After four years at VfB, Wataru Endo has left to join Liverpool in the Premier League. VfB wish their former captain all the best for the future.
[article]
Wataru Endo is not a man of many words, but one of big performances. The 30-year-old wore the red hoop for four years, giving his all for the club game after game and leading the team out onto the pitch as captain from 2021/22 onwards. He was VfB’s linchpin in midfield and led by example through his dedication, commitment and endurance. The VfB hierarchy valued his qualities: team bodyguard, leader, anchor and warrior are all terms they would come to associate with Wataru Endo.

Ever-present

After helping the club achieve promotion from Bundesliga 2 to the top flight in his debut season in Bad Canstatt, Endo hardly missed a league game for VfB. As well as featuring in 99 of a possible 102 Bundesliga matches – 33 each season – over the past three campaigns, the Japan international also played 21 games in the second tier, 11 in the DFB Cup and two in the Bundesliga promotion/relegation play-off at the end of last term. Endo has also played more minutes (8,783) than any other midfielder in the German top flight since his debut in September 2020, according to data specialists Opta.

The warrior

Aided by a tireless playing style, Endo blossomed into one of the Bundesliga’s best tacklers and hardest-working players. According to the DFL, he won more challenges than any other player in 2020/21 (476) and 2021/22 (448) before coming fourth in that category in 2022/23 (439). No other Bundesliga midfielder has won more duels (1,274) or registered more ball recoveries (706) since his debut, while Endo also recorded the second-most tackles (207; source: Opta) in that period. He covered between 350 and 370 kilometres each season, which placed him among the top ten every campaign.

After four years of unwavering commitment in a VfB shirt, Wataru has now joined Liverpool in the Premier League. VfB would like to thank their former captain for every appearance during his time at the club, for his leadership qualities on and off the pitch, and for every goal he scored, and wish him all the best on his new adventure![/article]

Big fan of the jumping fist pump celebration.
 
I've seen some interesting texts about this and opinions of Endo from within the game and from people close to the deal. But they're off the record so I'm gonna just drop that in here and saunter off.

It's all positive stuff, though.
I love the stuff you share so this is just a big fat tease.
#sadface.

He seems a very Klopp style signing.
 
It's all positive stuff, though.

annoyed-kzl.gif
 
I think if we’d gone in the minute Fabs was sold, signed this guy and then went to work trying to find a younger DM to develop alongside him, then I’d be more inclined to be sucked in by the positive spin that Klopp, etc are putting on this.

If he was that good - why didn’t we just go for him in the first place instead of fannying about with Caciedo & Lavia?

The answer is, we’ve gone for a sticking plaster and we’ll be back to square one again shortly.

That’s not to say he’s utter shite, or that he won’t prove to be a decent signing - but the bar is set to “not utter dogshit” at the minute.

The transfer strategy just doesn’t seem joined up - and that’s the real problem.

Anyway, I hope he’s the one to anchor that midfield and support Trent, Mac A, Slobbers, Curtis & Harvey by letting them focus on ripping teams apart by covering the space they leave.
 
I think if we’d gone in the minute Fabs was sold, signed this guy and then went to work trying to find a younger DM to develop alongside him, then I’d be more inclined to be sucked in by the positive spin that Klopp, etc are putting on this.

If he was that good - why didn’t we just go for him in the first place instead of fannying about with Caciedo & Lavia?

The answer is, we’ve gone for a sticking plaster and we’ll be back to square one again shortly.

That’s not to say he’s utter shite, or that he won’t prove to be a decent signing - but the bar is set to “not utter dogshit” at the minute.

The transfer strategy just doesn’t seem joined up - and that’s the real problem.

Anyway, I hope he’s the one to anchor that midfield and support Trent, Mac A, Slobbers, Curtis & Harvey by letting them focus on ripping teams apart by covering the space they leave.
You're equating it to player quality, but I think it's more to do with investment value. For example Endo is way ahead of Lavia in development and quality. It's just that 5 or 6 years from now we probably would have made our money back on the likes of Lavia and Caicedo. We'll make nothing from Endo.
I think it's that simple. Bar being set to 'Not utter dogshit' is absolutely not on point.
 
I think if we’d gone in the minute Fabs was sold, signed this guy and then went to work trying to find a younger DM to develop alongside him, then I’d be more inclined to be sucked in by the positive spin that Klopp, etc are putting on this.

If he was that good - why didn’t we just go for him in the first place instead of fannying about with Caciedo & Lavia?

The answer is, we’ve gone for a sticking plaster and we’ll be back to square one again shortly.

That’s not to say he’s utter shite, or that he won’t prove to be a decent signing - but the bar is set to “not utter dogshit” at the minute.

The transfer strategy just doesn’t seem joined up - and that’s the real problem.

Anyway, I hope he’s the one to anchor that midfield and support Trent, Mac A, Slobbers, Curtis & Harvey by letting them focus on ripping teams apart by covering the space they leave.

Yup. He was obviously nowhere near the top of our list at the start of the summer and “circumstances” have forced us into this kind of move.

All we can hope is that he works out as well as some of the other fallback choices we’ve had to make.
 
Endo seems like he’ll be easy to root for. Wear-his-heart on the sleeve type of player, and Klopp clearly loves those types. Now it’s totally possible to root for such a player, and also despair at our transfer strategy. Those two aren’t mutually incompatible at all.

I will take great pleasure in watching an underdog on the pitch and proving his doubters wrong, but let’s be clear, our recruitment strategy is an absolute mess:

  1. The very rationale of selling Fabinho and Henderson was that they were ageing players in terminal decline, and that we’d never see such money for them ever game. That entire rationale (and a good chunk of the money gained from selling them) has now gone towards a player who’s older than Fabinho, who will inevitably decline and leave on a free.
  2. The idea that a 30-year old player who’s never played at the highest level, will suddenly come to one of the toughest leagues in the world, and play like a top-end DM is fanciful. There’s not even a handful of players who’ve come to the PL aged 30 and done anything great here. And those include some absolutely world class players like Shevchenko, Thiago etc.
  3. Endo has never played at a high-level. His 6 years in Europe have been for not even mid-table teams. Stuttgart were a division 2 team when he joined, and they’ve basically battled relegation in all the seasons he was there bar one. Sint-Truden are a mid-table team in Belgium. He’s never once played in a European competition.
  4. The idea that he is some hidden gem is delusional. If he were truly a top end talent, it is inconceivable that not a single bigger team in Germany or a Europa league team across Europe didn’t think of buying him.
  5. It may well be true that he’s an underrated and solid footballer. We’ve seen loads of those across the years in England, and it’s possible he’s pretty decent. The idea however that he can be someone playing 3000+ minutes for a team with top 4 or title aspirations in the most difficult league in the world is laughable.
  6. At the very best, he’ll be good enough to be a 1200-1800 minute contributor on a good team, and will be a highly committed and capable professional. Nothing wrong with that, but we desperately need more than that.

There’s a genuine concern that we’re unrecognisable as a Klopp team anymore. 2018-2022, we were one of the most physical and athletic teams in Europe with top-end athletes across the pitch. At the back, we had VVD – the best 1v1 CB on the planet, two pacy young full-backs with relentless running power. Protected by a midfield who had an absolute duel king in Fabinho at no. 6 (easily a top 5 player in his position in Europe), flanked by two defensive-minded running monsters in Hendo and Gini. Gini in particular had top-tier upper body strength, and was virtually impossible to dispossess. Up front, we had two of the paciest and most physical 1v1 wide forwards, and in the middle we had the absolute gold standard for forward pressing in Bobby. What could you do against this team physically? We’d win most of our games before we stepped on the pitch, because everyone knew they didn’t have a hope in hell to outrun, outpace or outfight us. Even the brilliant teams like City or Bayern were scared of us.

Where are we today from a physical standpoint? Declined at every single area on the pitch. van Dijk is a shadow of himself, and Robertson is clearly declining as an athlete. Matip and Gomez have declined so much that they are borderline liabilities. Konate is the only standout athlete, but the jury is very much out on his ability to stay fit. Trent is still in his athletic prime, but has lost all interest in defending.

The midfield? Fabinho, Hendo and Gini have all left. Macallister and Szoboszlai have pretty strong profiles as runners and pressers, but they are more offensive minded, and don’t have the ability at duels than Hendo and Gini had. At DM, we now have an 18 year old who’s too raw to frankly offer anything more than 1200 minutes, and a 30 year old who’s never played at the top level. He has no business playing more than 1500 minutes for a top team either. Who will take be the 3000+ minute player at DM then?

In attack also, we’ve declined physically. Salah is still quick, but obviously not as quick or strong at 1v1s as he was 4 years ago. Diaz is rapid, but nowhere as strong or physical as Mane. Gakpo is pretty skilled and a better finisher than Bobby, but isn’t even in the same stratosphere as a presser. Darwin is a top-class athlete, but the jury is fully out on his footballing IQ.

Where does that leave us then? At a technical level, there’s an argument to be made that the present team is better than the 2018-2022 team. We do have some excellent players on the ball now with Salah, Macallister, Szoboszali, Diaz, Gakpo and even Elliott and Jones. But they are nowhere as physical or athletic.

In defence and midfield, we are just significantly worse in almost every respect. We had a desperate need to add TWO top-tier athletes at LCB and DM, and we haven’t done that yet.

My prediction is that we will play quite well against the lower teams by virtue of our sheer technical superiority and will score a ton of goals in these games. I can see us doing pretty well in the Europa League as well for that reason. I think we’ll struggle however against the top 6 sides, or any well-coached team with a good press and physical players. We just don’t have the ability to consistently win 1v1 battles or pressing battles anymore. That’s my biggest concern because that was practically the identity of a Klopp team.
 
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