Jurgen Klopp has made a public promise to Wataru Endo, citing the case of one Liverpool teammate as a precedent to back up his point.
The Japanese midfielder has made just one Premier League start since joining the Reds in August, and it came before the end of that month, with the 30-year-old playing only 10 top-flight minutes since the end of September (WhoScored).
Despite the ex-Stuttgart man rarely featuring domestically, his manager insists that the player will ‘100%’ be included among future starting line-ups in the league this season, referencing how Andy Robertson had to bide his time in his first season at Anfield before establishing himself in the team.
Speaking about Endo’s adaptation at Liverpool, Klopp said (via BBC Sport): “Wataru was all the time very important for us. It’s another part of football that you line up 11 and they do well, you think the others don’t do well. It’s not true. Wataru makes steps every day.
“We had stories like this in the past. Andy Robertson did not play for half a year. Nobody can remember it any more but it was like that. Other players had their struggles in the beginning, it’s all fine. He [Endo] did not struggle, it’s just we play pretty good and he is super important for us.
“He played a lot of games and if he plays all the games people say ‘ah but he’s not starting in the Premier League’. It’s a little bit rhythm, but he will definitely start games in the Premier League, 100%.”
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The Robertson precedent is a valid one, with the Scot having to wait until midway through his first season at Liverpool before displacing Alberto Moreno as our first-choice left-back (Transfermarkt), a status the 29-year-old has now held for almost six years.
While 30-year-old Endo doesn’t have the same scope for patience at this point in his career, he can still have faith that Klopp will come good on his promise and start the Japan captain more regularly as the campaign goes on.
We have 10 matches in the space of 32 days after the international break, seven of which are Premier League games, so that period could well see the manager utilise the full depth of his squad throughout a frantic period where rotation will be crucial.
The first week of December sees us play three top-flight matches in a seven-day timeframe, so there’s every chance that the summer signing starts at least one of those.
Also, injuries elsewhere may open the door for Endo to break into the team more regularly, although hopefully his inclusions will be through choice rather than necessity as we obviously don’t want to see numerous players being ruled out.
Football has an uncanny knack of producing sliding doors moments. One of those could possibly be around the corner for Liverpool’s Japanese midfielder.
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