Arne Slot is getting continuously closer to realising which players he wants to make up his best Liverpool XI.
The Reds’ pre-season is now complete. Having played five official games, the Reds won four and drew one.
Preparations off the pitch may have taken a blow with the news that Liverpool won’t be signing Martin Zubimendi, but on it, Slot’s Reds are looking good.
Throughout pre-season, it has become clear who the new head coach rates at Anfield and who he perhaps thinks could be moved on.
And according to legendary centre-back Jamie Carragher, one member of the Liverpool squad is ‘completely the opposite’ of what Slot ideally wants in his team.
Jamie Carragher says Wataru Endo will be sold
Though Liverpool have been silent in terms of incomings so far this summer, they have also been especially slow with players going out the other way.
Slot has wanted plenty of time to get a good grasp on his team and has been unwilling to let players go without having had a proper look at them.
The one exception to this standpoint has been Wataru Endo. Reports that Endo has been put up for sale emerged towards the end of July.
And although Liverpool have rejected bids for Endo, it does feel very much like the Japanese does not align with what Slot wants from his midfielders.
Speaking on the Blood Red: Liverpool FC podcast, Carragher agrees with this and claims that he would be surprised if Endo was still at the club once the transfer deadline passes.
“I know he [Slot] played him [Endo] at the start of the tour against Real Betis. I didn’t see the game but I saw some reports saying he found it difficult,” says the Liverpool legend.
“I think Endo will go, I’m pretty confident on that because it almost looks like he’s completely the opposite of what he wants in that role,” he adds.
“It doesn’t mean he’s a bad player, it just means a manager wants to play a slightly different type of game or tactics or set-up. So, I think he’d play virtually everybody there instead of Endo actually.”
Does Zubimendi decision change things for Endo?
Carragher was speaking before the news about Zubimendi rejecting Liverpool became public. And we’d agree that if the 25-year-old had joined, Endo would have been moved on.
However, with Zubimendi turning down the chance to move to Merseyside, it seems possible that things could have changed for the Japan captain.
He may not be exactly what Slot is looking for in his midfield, but Endo still has something to offer.
It should be remembered that he 31-year-old initially struggled with the demands of Jurgen Klopp’s system before gradually getting to grips and then excelling in it.
Studious and smart as he is, who’s to say that Endo could not do the same under Slot? We love to see him given the chance for redemption and we now feel that he could well get it.
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