Wataru Endo is Much, *Much* Better Than People Realise

Sometimes We Covet the Wrong Things

So many people write off players they've never heard of.

As if it's the player's fault, or there's something wrong with him.

It's a human response to crave what is both familiar and also deemed valuable or desirable by others, and yet it's one of many human responses we should park and then investigate. (Or if it’s novelty and surprise that we’re craving, understanding that too.) But we cannot covet what we do not know exists.

Indeed, life should be about having the emotional reaction, which is often beyond our control, then calmly studying it. Then realising what it means.

Because it seems, in this case, more fool us, for not paying more attention.

Here we're talking about the captain of Japan with 50 caps, who played at the Qatar World Cup in famous victories (albeit many boycotted the World Cup; I certainly did), and who domestically has been a statistical star and leader in a struggling Bundesliga team.

A player who, despite turning 30 last season, was almost top-five for fitness in the German game, and who has missed just three league matches in three seasons while playing a ton of games for Japan. A versatile player who can do various jobs.

The more I read and see, the more ready I think Endo is capable of being the first-choice no.6, if he can settle quickly into the pace of the game and integrate with the squad. (Which doesn’t mean he will be.)

That's the only bit I'm worried about, initially, with his fitness at 30 elite.

(The other issue is that his pace will likely diminish before his stamina, but at 30 he should be 1-2 years away from slowing down, and some players can extend that.)

I wrote a piece last night on the Main Hub, but I wanted to add a few more positives about Endo (and some radar comparisons with several other midfielders), who may suffer now from being underrated, but who will not have the burden of high expectations that would come if he was 25, Spanish and cost £70m, and with the exact same game.

One of the radars I’ll explain is this one below, which is about all-rounder skills; with Endo also coming out on top on my no.6 radars, too.

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*Note: the ZenDen is additional content separate from the TTT Main Hub. Rather than seek to write freelance work for other outlets, to supplement my income and keep TTT running (as everything gets more expensive), I write paywalled, zen-like material on the ZenDen. The ZenDen is a quiet space with no commenting – just articles to read. The community remains on the Main Hub, and its where I interact with subscribers, write different articles, and provide post-match analysis.*