Not even donning the most rose-tinted of spectacles could persuade any Liverpool supporter to view the positives after their team dropped into the Europa League when finishing outside the top four last season.
The Reds, though, have been sure to embrace the unique openings offered by featuring in the Continent’s secondary knockout competition. And few have made more of those opportunities than Wataru Endo.
Indeed, it says much about the progress the Japan international has made during his debut season at Anfield that, having started all six group games in the Europa League, there will be many who hope he is wrapped in cotton wool when Jurgen Klopp’s side take on Sparta Prague in their round of 16 first leg at the Stadion Letna this evening.
Such is the importance Endo has assumed in a Reds side that, with a record 10th League Cup already tucked away in the trophy cabinet, continues to pursue an unprecedented quadruple.
The Europa League has thus far been a bit of a rollercoaster for the defensive midfielder. He struggled on only his second Reds start in the win at LASK Linz, but was surprisingly replaced at half-time in the home win over Union Saint-Gilloise after a much better showing.
However, there were contrasting fortunes against Toulouse, when a debut Reds goal at Anfield was followed by a poor performance in France that again saw him hooked at half-time. Endo also managed only 45 minutes in the loss in the dead rubber at Union before Christmas, although that was more for rotation purposes.
That collective time on the pitch had nevertheless outstripped his minutes in the Premier League by the time the group stage concluded. Since then, though, Saturday’s dramatic 1-0 Premier League win at Nottingham Forest is the only one of 10 games for which he has been available that Endo has failed to start, and even that was due to having just recovered from an ankle knock that forced him to miss the FA Cup win over Southampton.
From having deputised for the crocked Alexis Mac Allister throughout December, Endo’s return from the Asia Cup at the start of last month has allowed the Argentina World Cup winner to prosper further upfield, with one goal and three assists in this last five outings, the most recent his cross for Darwin Nunez’s late decider at the City Ground.
Endo is helping improve players around him. And the 31-year-old knows exactly the reason for his gradual improvement with Liverpool. “The manager always supports me and he is a great, great person because he always trusts me and the other players so that we can play much more fully,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve changed too much as a player. I had to understand how Liverpool play but I know that now and I can understand that side of things so I just do my best to try and help the team win every game.
“I feel like I can be an important player right now as it’s a very tough situation for us to play two or three times as week but I don’t feel a lot of pressure. I’m just not the kind of person who always puts too much pressure on myself. I just try to stay calm and focus on my job.”
And of Liverpool’s season, Endo says: “We have potential to win trophies. We have good young talent and we have amazingly experienced players, which is a good mix. Everyone always plays for the team and I think that’s a very important thing in order to win titles and to achieve something. I can see that very clearly and so I can say that we have a lot of potential to win titles.”
