9 months ago
139 One former Liverpool player has now been singing the praises of a midfielder he thought fans wouldn’t have noticed in yesterday’s cup win.
Jurgen Klopp was definitely down to the bare bones of his squad yesterday, a context which made the trophy lift even more satisfying for all involved.
Yes, it would have been a lot easier if the likes of Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah were involved, but the Liverpool players dug deep and made their manager proud in his final season.
Of course, fans may be confident that they’ve still not seen Klopp lift his final trophy during his illustrious tenure at Anfield yet.
But with all that being said, former Liverpool player Ray Houghton was discussing a player he thought may have been missed in yesterday’s praise.
Houghton, who played for Liverpool 153 times in the late 80s and early 90s, appeared on ‘The Official Liverpool FC Podcast’ following the cup win.
And when he considered some of the brilliant performances from the victory, he thought Wataru Endo may go slightly unnoticed.
Both Caoimhin Kelleher and Virgil van Dijk deservedly grabbed the headlines, but Houghton thought Endo was the ‘unsung hero’ of the day.
Former Liverpool player Ray Houghton thinks fans may have missed Wataru Endo’s display
Speaking on the podcast, Houghton thought that Endo did nothing flashy but was so effective in the engine room.
He said: “He did really well, [he was] the unsung hero.
“He’s not flashy, he doesn’t do things that are going to catch the eye for the supporters but he does a lot of the work that’s required in front of the back four, breaks things up, wins the ball back, does it nice and simply.”
Of course, there was a lot of talk that Liverpool may be ill-prepared for their lofty ambitions when they missed out on Moises Caicedo to Chelsea in the summer.
And it therefore must have been so satisfying for Liverpool fans to watch Endo, who cost just £16m, outperform Caicedo quite comfortably at Wembley – a player who was meant to be a more cost effective, but weaker option.
All in all it was a fantastic day for Liverpool at Wembley, one a former player like Ray Houghton could richly enjoy.
And whilst Houghton thought fans may miss how effective Endo was, perhaps his teammate is actually the most underrated player at the club.
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