Jurgen Klopp was taken aback by the number of “worldies” in Liverpool’s 4-3 win win over Fulham, including one in an “important” cameo from Wataru Endo.
In the minutes immediately after Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s free-kick forced an own goal from Bernd Leno, Liverpool looked likely to cruise to victory over Fulham.
But instead, they conspired to play out a back-and-forth clash that saw them go 3-2 down when Bobby De Cordova-Reid headed in late on.
Fortunately, two quickfire goals from Endo and Alexander-Arnold sealed the three points, with all four strikes for Liverpool – of which Alexis Mac Allister‘s was the standout – of sheer quality.
“I’ve seen a few games, I’ve never seen a game with that amount of worldies, to be honest,” Klopp told reporters after the game.
“I mean a competitive game. It was really competitive.”
As the manager ran through all four stunning goals, he reserved special praise for Endo, whose introduction on 83 minutes effectively turned the tide.
“Trent’s free-kick, unbelievable,” he continued.
“Macca, before the game you could see his foot is right today, he was really in the shooting and I was like ‘wow, you better try it’. He thought obviously the same!
“Wata was just so important. He came on, eh? That was really good, really good.
“Won decisive challenges, super passing, top goal.
“Then Trent makes it a brace. Honestly, for whatever reason I did not see that ball go in. I was probably turning in that moment or whatever.
“I haven’t watched that back, but all of them pretty special.”
Endo is certainly deserving of praise after his first Premier League goal, which came after an impressive night against LASK in the Europa League three days previous.
Speaking before the visit of Fulham, the Japan captain told This Is Anfield‘s David Lynch that he has found the Premier League “harder than he thought.”
“Every time I try to help Liverpool play and, of course, I always watch what they do from the bench. I think it is an important thing, and I am getting better and better,” he said.
“[The Premier League] is harder than I thought but I’m very happy to be here. Physically, it’s speedy, so it’s very hard to adapt, but I keep trying and keep playing and I’ll get better.
“I’m already 30 years old but I feel I have a chance to grow as a football player, so I’m so happy to be here and I can improve.”
There is every chance Endo will now make his first Premier League start since the 3-0 win over Brentford in Wednesday’s trip to Sheffield United.
