Steve Nicol believes that Jurgen Klopp still doesn’t fully trust one member of his squad at Liverpool.
Summer signing Wataru Endo netted his first goal for the Reds in Thursday night’s 5-1 win over Toulouse but has only started one Premier League match prior to today’s clash against Nottingham Forest, with that particular appearance coming just over two months ago (Transfermarkt).
Alexis Mac Allister has instead played as the starting number 6 for the bulk of the season thus far, a tactical deployment which has been questioned in some quarters.
However, speaking on ESPN FC, Nicol claimed that the 30-year-old has yet to win the trust of his manager and that Liverpool’s best XI wouldn’t have the Japan international included in it.
The former Reds player said of Endo: “I don’t think [Klopp] fancies him right now. I guess all the managers [would say] ‘he’s not quite settled in yet, he’s still learning the way we play.
“It doesn’t matter, because I don’t think too many people would argue [against] that to have [Dominik] Szoboszlai and Mac Allister further up would be better
“The thing is he can afford to have Mac Allister a little deeper because they are pretty good still at going forward, but I don’t think he trusts Endo. I think that’s probably a better word. He doesn’t trust him yet to start him and have the other two further up.”
Liverpool were crying out for defensive midfield additions for much of the summer, hence the decision to bring in Endo a couple of weeks before the transfer deadline.
Even if other midfielders are more eye-catching, the 30-year-old is perhaps the one who’s best suited to the specific qualities which are demanded of the number 6 role, so maybe the £50,000-per-week enforcer (Capology) should be trusted to start more often – especially with his tail up following his goal on Thursday night.
You can view Nicol’s comments below (from 3:25), via ESPN FC on YouTube: