Wataru Endo has had to accept a role largely as an impact player off the bench, which he thrived in against Wolves to see Arne Slot hail his ability to be “important” despite his short cameos.
Only one player has made the matchday squad more often this season than Endo (39), but the midfielder has been left to settle for just 684 minutes of action to date.
Instead of a regular as he was under Jurgen Klopp, he is now the player Slot has turned to the second-most times off the bench, and his cameo against Wolves underlined why.
The 32-year-old only featured for 19 minutes but he was key to the 2-1 scoreline, showing off his experience and ability to settle into the match defensively with little time on the clock.
It is not always easy to have an influence off the bench and Slot underlined why that makes Endo “special,” as not every player can perform well when turned to late in matches.
“I think Wata has been really useful for us this season,” Slot told reporters. “It’s not always a matter of how many minutes you play, you can be very important in two minutes and you can be less important in 90 minutes.
“What makes Wata special, in my opinion, is every time we have to rely on him – if it’s five, 10, 20 or 25 minutes – he shows up.
“That sounds much more simple than it is because if a player has hardly had a lot of playing time then to be mentally so strong that if the team needs you, you can bring your best performance in – that is not always easy.
“Because mostly you see players that don’t play a lot find it difficult to get their rhythm or their quality in the less playing time they get.
“The only thing is defending is always more easy than creating. So if you play a player who hasn’t played for a long time and he has to create something, it is always more difficult than defending.
“He’s been important for us and he will be important for us in the upcoming weeks as well.”
• READ: Endo “happy to be a part of this club” – ‘I’ll play anywhere for LFC’
Slot has readily relied on Ryan Gravenberch as the defensive midfielder this season but Endo remains committed to doing what is asked of him, even if it results in limited minutes.
“The only thing I can do is to show myself every time I have a chance, just keep working hard,” he told LFCTV.
“I’m still happy to be a part of this club and I can still feel like I can do something for this club.”
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