August 19th 2023.
Wataru Endo made his unexpected Liverpool debut on Saturday, and manager Jurgen Klopp admits the circumstances weren't ideal. Endo was only unveiled as a Liverpool player the day before and was thrown into the action 63 minutes into the match. Klopp said the Japan captain had "absolutely no idea what to do" in the situation.
"Horrible [circumstances]," Klopp said. "He came on and threw everything he had onto the pitch. Two days before he had no clue what he would be doing. I spoke with him in the morning about his role if the team was at 11 players, but that's all he had. He had no clue what was going on".
The chaotic final 30 minutes Endo was thrown into was made even more difficult as Alexis Mac Allister was shown a straight red card. However, Liverpool had been in a strong position prior to this and Luis Diaz opened the scoring for the Reds. Klopp was 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," Klopp said. "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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