Pre Match Pre Match - West Ham (H) - Worthington Cup - Wed 20:00

[MomoWASright]

Even when he was giving MOTM performances against teams like United and City, fans want him replaced.
Endo has got no chance here.

There is nothing much else he can do. I think this will be his last season with us.

I like him. I’d like better but I understand he will start about 20% of games this season. He should also get plenty of last 10 minutes of games.

 

[doctor_mac]

Even when he was giving MOTM performances against teams like United and City, fans want him replaced.
Endo has got no chance here.

There is nothing much else he can do. I think this will be his last season with us.

I love him, and hopefully Slot can see he has a role to play. I think he'll end up playing more of a role than some people think, including Slot right now.

 

[Dreambeliever]

He’ll get plenty of game time when the injuries start rolling in and like season will exceed expectations.

 

[jan]

Not having any Endo hate. Perfect squad player and a great option when it's time to go full battle mode. People also seem to forget how good he was last year, exceeded all expectations really

 

[rurikbird]

I have lots of respect for Endo as a player and professional – he is the Japan captain and is good enough to play for Liverpool. He’s a model pro and a great teammate. That being said, I’ve never liked the type of a pure destroyer at #6 – whether it’s Endo or someone else. The ball has to move and circulate, the #6 position is the one where every pass – forward, sideways and backwards – is available and it’s such a a waste to have a player in there who doesn’t have the range and variety of passing to take advantage of all this or mobility and confidence to go on a run himself when the situation calls for it. It’s like having a pawn in the middle of the chessboard, when you can have a queen. With the “pawn” football immediately becomes bland and boring.

I cannot express how much I’m enjoying seeing Gravenberch doing what he does at #6 this season – for me this is what football is about. And for all Endo’s admirable qualities, the contrast when he is there instead is just too great. I always said that if a team needs a pure midfield destroyer, I’d much rather have them play further forward, in the Gattuso/Vidal/Momo Sissoko tradition, with a true artist pulling strings at the base of the midfield. I can accept Endo playing kind of a “Milner role” at the end of games (although he will need to learn how to give away fewer fouls in dangerous areas), but I don’t really see him fitting into the midfield structure Slot is building. If we want a more physical midfielder than MacAllister at #8/LCM, I think Jones or even Szobo are our best options. At at #6, I’d rather see Morton or Nyoni when he’s physically ready.

 

[Frogfish]

I have lots of respect for Endo as a player and professional – he is the Japan captain and is good enough to play for Liverpool. He’s a model pro and a great teammate. That being said, I’ve never liked the type of a pure destroyer at #6 – whether it’s Endo or someone else. The ball has to move and circulate, the #6 position is the one where every pass – forward, sideways and backwards – is available and it’s such a a waste to have a player in there who doesn’t have the range and variety of passing to take advantage of all this or mobility and confidence to go on a run himself when the situation calls for it. It’s like having a pawn in the middle of the chessboard, when you can have a queen. With the “pawn” football immediately becomes bland and boring.

I cannot express how much I’m enjoying seeing Gravenberch doing what he does at #6 this season – for me this is what football is about. And for all Endo’s admirable qualities, the contrast when he is there instead is just too great. I always said that if a team needs a pure midfield destroyer, I’d much rather have them play further forward, in the Gattuso/Vidal/Momo Sissoko tradition, with a true artist pulling strings at the base of the midfield. I can accept Endo playing kind of a “Milner role” at the end of games (although he will need to learn how to give away fewer fouls in dangerous areas), but I don’t really see him fitting into the midfield structure Slot is building. If we want a more physical midfielder than MacAllister at #8/LCM, I think Jones or even Szobo are our best options. At at #6, I’d rather see Morton or Nyoni when he’s physically ready.

So much in this post I like and agree with ... and then there's the bits I don't.

Firstly I think Endo can be that player that passes forward and goes on runs, we've seen it, it's not like he's not more than capable. Maybe Klopp had him playing a certain way and Slot needs to re-educate him but I think he has it in him (not to Gravy levels of course).

I can't understand your thought process of having the destroyer further up the pitch IF behind him you have a 'true artist pulling the strings', the #6 is there for a specific reason (amongst others), to protect and cover the Back 4. The artist would have to be a jack of all trades (and world class). Maybe Gravy is that player but we can't expect everyone playing there to be that good. Surely this is why we have the Double Pivot.

Conundrum : I'd love to see Morton, Bajectic or Nyoni given a chance there - but it's a risk not worth taking unless we are forced into it. Let them mature first, loans being the key to that. Morton is next in line given his extended loan periods, but if he's not displacing Endo already I worry for his future with us.