Can only really view this one through the lens of “what comes next?”
If he’s a modest priced option that then enables us to get a centre back and another midfielder of starting standard then okay, I can see the appeal. Bit more experience, another leader, will do a job against the bottom two thirds of the league and cup competitions.
If he’s THE midfield signing to replace Fabinho and Henderson and that’s it, then colour me underwhelmed. Because there’s no chance we sold those two with the intention of buying a 30 year old from Germany who’s team was almost relegated last season and he’s never even played at Europa Conference level.
Short term squad option, fine. Especially as Bajcetic and Elliott are so young still and Thiago is off next summer at the latest. But anything beyond that and it feels like we’re kicking a big piece of that midfield rebuild down the road for yet another summer.
He’s also taking up one of our two remaining non-homegrown slots. Unless someone is leaving, that means we’ve one spot left. If we’re to do a midfielder and a centre back then one of them needs to be homegrown or under the age that counts towards the non-homegrown quota for this season.
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That scatterplot is hilarious.
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Jurgen Klopp said earlier this summer: “James Milner always came on and finished the game off. We have to have players for that role.”
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WTF is up with Rice’s tackling stats?
Did you see West Ham in the league last year? Thats quite high all things considered
After going big to try to get Caicedo, this feels underwhelming. However…
One valid criticism was where is the scouting? The whole world knew Caicedo was a good defensive midfielder. Surely Jörg would know the German market, and find value and talent?
Endo might well be just that player, and good luck to him.
At the least, he now gives us some insurance so we don’t have to be stupid in the market, or have our pants pulled down because everyone sees our need.
Maybe another midfielder is on the way this window too? Or maybe we think a lot of Bajcetic but just want to make sure we bring him through in a measured way? Or maybe we are signing Andre in January, and there’s room for all of them? And because the outlay isn’t so great, perhaps we can get a decent defender too, such as Inacio?
Some people have quipped we sell a 29 year old Fabinho but replace him with a 30 year old Endo?! But scratch beneath the surface and there’s way less mileage for Endo, having played just over half the career minutes of Fabinho.
We have lost some leadership and now it looks like another leader coming in, another captain of his country. An unheralded player, but if he represents the legs we need to allow Trent, Mac and Szoboszlai to do their thing, bring it on.
Cautiously optimistic with this one.
Good luck to the fella.
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Took a look at the YT clip below (official scouting mission), and Endo looked very tidy against Croatia in the WC round of 16. Very progressive with his passing as well.
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So, I’m guessing that without reading the previous 172 posts, the general consensus is that he’s not good enough, despite the fact that those making that judgement have…
A. Never heard of him.
B. Never seen him play
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Honestly, I have no idea about this guy.
But given the write-ups that I’m reading, it’s no wonder I love this club!
The Endo signing reminds me a bit of signing Ragnar Klavan. He’ll do a job and be the kind of player you bring in to provide needed depth until you can find a long term solution for the position.
Perhaps that solution will not arrive imminently. But there will always be the next Caicedo, the next Tchouameni, the next Lavia, the next Camavinga, the next Enzo that’ll pop up sometime in the next couple windows. Save your money for the next major talent instead of splurging for an overpriced DM.
But Liverpool needs someone who can play the position right now. I’m sure Schmadtke and Szobo are familiar with him. I personally would have preferred Amrabat because he’s still young enough that he could do a job for now and, when the next big DM comes in, he can still be a valuable squad piece for another 7-8 years instead of a player like Endo who might only give us 2-3 quality years.
But I’m not opposed to the signing. They needed someone in right away to take the pressure off of Bajcetic.
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i think people are going to be pleasantly surprised by a midfield three of dom, mac and thiago…
Bloody hell. I go to bed and wake up to find that we’re buying the captain of the Japan national team.
What do I know about him? Not much, except that he epitomizes the Samurai Blues ‘fighting spirit’ so in that regard he could be seen as a Milner replacement. I noticed on Wikipedia that he’s CM and CB. I think he does play at CB for the national team, so possibly two birds etc.
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19 million euros for a 30 year old…WTAF! Literally spent all of the Hendo’s money on this man.
