Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has praised midfielder Wataru Endo after he scored against Toulouse on Thursday night.
Wataru Endo has received praise from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after finding the net at Anfield.
Liverpool were back in action on Thursday night, hosting Toulouse in the Europa League.
This proved to be a comfortable win for Liverpool as they racked up a 5-1 victory over the Ligue 1 side.
Diogo Jota, Endo, Darwin Nunez, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah all got on the scoresheet as Liverpool made it three wins in three in the Europa League group stage.
Jurgen Klopp praises Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo
Toulouse posed problems at times but ran out of steam as Liverpool asserted their dominance.
The Anfield crowd were treated to Endo’s first Liverpool goal since joining from Stuttgart for around £16million.
Endo has only started one Premier League game so far, with Klopp easing the 30-year-old into English football.
Endo is starting all of Liverpool’s European games though and we saw his biggest impact yet with a fine headed goal against Toulouse.
Liverpool boss Klopp has now praised Endo, telling TNT Sports that he was ‘really, really strong’ in the air despite his size.
Klopp added that Endo was ‘really good’ against Toulouse, praising his ability to break the lines with his passes whilst finding half spaces in midfield.
“I can imagine that people are surprised but I think in the air tonight he was really, really strong and not only in that moment,” said Klopp. “He scored incredible goals for Stuttgart around set pieces so I’m really happy that he could show that.”
“He had a really good game passing-wise, how he broke the lines, how he found half spaces, really really good. For him, I’m very happy as well, the right players scored, that’s obviously something special for a 6. He did well, nice next step for him,” he added.
My view: Endo will soon have important Premier League role
Endo’s Premier League minutes have been limited so far but these strong Europa League displays are all preparation for more league action.
Klopp continues to use Alexis Mac Allister as a holding midfielder at the moment but that isn’t his natural position.
A more natural anchor man will be needed in some games and that’s exactly why Endo was signed.
Endo fits that role better than Mac Allister and Gravenberch, he just needs more and more minutes around his relatively new teammates.
Endo may not be the long-term solution for Liverpool in that area but we think he will grow into a bigger role in the coming weeks – especially after impressing on Thursday.
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