2019/23 Wataru Endo | 2021- Hiroki Ito | 2022- Anrie Chase @ VfB Stuttgart (GER)

Wataru Endo joined Stuttgart in a one-year loan from Sint Truiden:

https://www.vfb.de/en/vfb/latest/news/professionals/2019/neuzugang-wataru-endo/

 

First start for Wataru Endo today:

Unsere Start-11 fürs Derby! #VfB #VfBKSC pic.twitter.com/uOGIre1zzG

— VfB Stuttgart (@VfB) November 24, 2019

 

Mario Gomez describing the signing of Wataru Endo as the signing of the year:

🗣️ @Mario_Gomez im #VfBTV Interview über Wataru Endos "Move des Jahres" im #Derby. 😉#VfB @wataru0209 pic.twitter.com/9TKbd3Nrjd

— VfB Stuttgart (@VfB) November 25, 2019

 

Endo is transferred permanently to Stuttgart, for a 1.7 million €, from Sint Truiden.

https://www.stvv.com/nl/nieuws/a-kern/wataru-endo-trekt-definitief-naar-vfb-stuttgart

 

Endo played well yesterday, with some key interceptions, passes, and link-up plays.
He seemed to be the pivot of the team, as almost every ball went through him and generated by him.

Even though he did not cover the opponent's player well in the play which led to their first goal, he was hardly the one to blame for it, as it was the job of the team's 4-back not him, and only the bad positioning and zonal marking of the back-four forced Endo to be in such an awkward position.

Stuttgart lost the game 1-2, but they were clearly the best team on the field, dominating the play and ball possession, and having more attacking opportunities. They have to improve their approach in dealing with counterattacks, as it was the one which costed them the match.

Anyhow, the game was a derby game, an away game, with the players not yet having 100% match fitness, surely they will improve in the coming games. Overall, they are a 1.Bundesliga material, and deserve to be promoted, all they have to do is to fix some of their problems

 

Endo had his first league assist two days ago:

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Goal from a header by Endo.

 

It was Stuttgart who fought back and deservedly won the match.

 

Indeed he does.

He is developing into a passing master since his move to Stuttgart.

He also improved in terms of speed, as he was known for his relative slowness earlier in his career, but now I can see how far he became faster, whenever his team lost possession he is the fastest to react.

Today, his pass created a one-on-one situation for one of his teammates against the GK and then his teammate was fouled from behind and gained a PK which resulted in Stuttgart's only goal today.
This pass reminded me -to an extent- of Shibasaki's through pass to Haraguchi which led to Japan's first goal against Belgium at the 2018 WC.

I think he and Hashimoto can form a decent duo in central midfield, and Moriyasu can exclude Shibasak altogether, as Endo is a better alternative.

 

Stuttgart are all almost promoted to the 1. Bundesliga.

With one matchday remaining, they are 3 points ahead of the third-place team Heidenheim, with Stuttgart having +23 goal difference and Heidenheim having +12 goal difference.
Stuttgart are also ahead of Heidenheim in the head-to-head confrontations.

Heidenheim will play away against the league's champions Arminina Bielefeld, while Stuttgart will play at home against Darmstadt, a team in the fifth-place with nothing to play for.

This is said a draw will be enough for Stuttgart to secure their promotion, or not losing by more than 5 goals difference, given that Heidenheim will win by more than 5 goals difference in the last matchday, which seems a very unlikely scenario.

Congratulations in advance to Wataru Endo, and let's see how he will perform next season in the 1. Bundesliga.

 

As expected, Wataru Endo and Stuttgart are promoted to the 1.Bundesliga. Congratulations.

So, given Osako and Bremen will manage to retain their 1.Bundesliga status, they will be at least 4 Japanese players at the 1.Bundesliga next season, and there might be more if other Japanese players transferred to 1.Bundesliga.

 

I believe there is no doubt about such thing.

 

If they retained their Bundesliga status, I would rather see him at Breman, as he is well-valued by the club management and team's head coach.

However, he is surely a player worthwhile of playing in a club competing for Europa League places, even if he has to fight for playing time and to be a starter. In this case, I hope he will be picked up by a club which are really valuing him.