Liverpool's 'Recruitment of Hyeja' Endo's Secret to Success

It turned out that one of the reasons why the timid Endo Wataru was able to adapt on the European stage was the "room escape game."

He showed excellent ability in the room escape game.

Britain's "Sky Sports" dealt with the story of Japan's national team Endo Wataru, who has been reborn as a key midfielder for Liverpool on the 29th. Isame Charai, who was assistant coach of Sint-Trawidan in Belgium's first division, where Endo was in his first season in Europe, cited escape from the room as the secret to his adaptation to Europe.

"Endo was really shy and not good at English, so it was difficult to approach," Isame Charai said. "In the room escape game played by the team, Endo found a lot of codes and showed excellent performance." He added, "Even inside the stadium, he is very intelligent, but he gained a lot of trust from the players because of this game."

Endo Wataru's first European appearance was in the 2018-2019 season. Endo was 25 years old at the time. While playing for the Urawa Reds, he was brought in by the Belgian team, Sint Trawidan. Sint Trawidan is well-known for the team that Lee Seung-woo played for in the past.

As assistant coach Isame Charai said, Endo's adaptation to Europe was not easy. Like other Asian players, he had communication problems.

But from then on, Endo's intelligence shone. Soccer-wise and externally, he was smart. In the game of escaping from a room without a prize, he played a great role and won the trust of his teammates, which led to soccer as well.

Endo moved to Stuttgart in one season of the German Bundesliga, which is a big European league. Endo started to make his name known in earnest. He imprinted himself as Endo, the starting midfielder of Stuttgart, not as a midfielder for the Japanese national team.

Endo Wataru continued to play in the Bundesliga as well. As a defensive midfielder, he was among the top in the Bundesliga in terms of defense. Notably, he was not tall at 178 centimeters, but excelled in competition for aerial ball. "Endo won 219 aerial ball competitions at Stuttgart, and none of the midfielders won aerial ball competitions more than this," said Opta, a soccer statistics outlet.

Endo, who played in more than 130 matches with Stuttgart, was next destination for Liverpool, a prestigious club in the Premier League. Stuttgart is not a top-ranked club in the Bundesliga, but it was different from Liverpool. Liverpool was a Premier League team that sought to win the title.

Endo who moved to Liverpool this season only cost 16 million pounds. This amount is very low in the Premier League. Basically, in order to recruit a famous midfielder, we need to invest at least 50 billion won approximately 50 million U.S. dollars.

Liverpool signed Endo because they failed to recruit the players they originally wanted. Liverpool sent Captain Jordan Henderson and defensive midfielder Fabinho to Saudi Arabia ahead of the season. Reinforcement of the midfield was essential, and their top targets were then Brighton and Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo and Southampton's Romeo Labia. Liverpool lost both midfielders to Chelsea and Endo was the only player they signed.

There were more concerns than expectations for Endo. He was not old and had a small physique, so it was questionable whether he would be able to survive in the Premier League. At the beginning of the season, Endo did not seem to adapt well. As a defensive midfielder, he did not play his role properly and seemed to feel sorry for something.

But as time passed, Endo regained his form. He also excelled in competition for aerial ball games and displayed strength in defense. According to Football Statistics magazine Foot Mob, his success rate in tackles stood at 56 percent with 12 interceptions and 69 ball recovery times. He displayed the best performance in defense.

Endo's performance continued, and Liverpool's performance increased. Liverpool is currently in second place with 64 points along with Arsenal.

Endo's performance was praised continuously. "No one expected him to show such an outstanding performance," Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said of Endo. "He is now a world-class midfielder." Teammate Joe Gomes said, "He gives everything for the team," and Dominic Sobosley also praised him, saying, "When I walk by and look back, he is standing there."

"Sky Sports" added his performance with a record. "He is the player who has scored the fewest goals per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season," the media outlet said. "He is the one who balances the team." 토토사이트 순위