Arne Slot will have been pleased with his side’s performance against Yokohama Marinos but, overall, the main takeaway is that all of his players got some valuable minutes in the tank.

The Dutchman certainly used his time wisely and experimented with players in different positions than usual, with the manager trying to gauge what his best squad is.

The majority of his players played 60 minutes, with the changes being made on the hour mark, and it is safe to say some of his substitutions were very interesting.

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One in particular would have been one that fans will be keeping their eye on from now on, with it suggesting what Slot’s plans are for one of his ‘unsung heroes’.

Photo by Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

The final stop on their Asia tour was Tokyo, Japan, with Wataru Endo returning home with his club for the first time since joining.

He is viewed as something of a superstar over there and this was shown by the reception he got when he came on, with the midfielder coming on to replace captain Virgil van Dijk.

This is, perhaps, a rather telling sign of what Slot has planned for Endo next season, with people at Liverpool believing that he could play in defence more often than not.

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The Reds have been linked with a new centre-half all summer but Slot may not want one, especially if Endo can be utilised there to good effect.

Although he is just five feet 10 inches tall, the Japanese international has shown in the past he is capable of playing there, and showed that once again by keeping a clean sheet when he came on.

Despite always giving his all and being a really good team player, Reds fans might not be best pleased if he plays there more regularly, however, especially after what has happened in the past.

Take nothing away from Endo, he is a quality footballer and is an “unsung hero” who deserves more game time, but this needs to come in his usual midfield position rather than in the heart of the defence.

When Liverpool won the league in the 2019/20 season, they went into the following campaign with just three recognised centre-backs, something that came back to bite them due to injuries.

This meant that the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho played there for large parts of the season, and instead of retaining their title, they were desperately trying to scrape into the top four.

With van Dijk getting no younger and Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez being injury-prone themselves, this could be a genuine possibility again, suggesting a new centre-back should be a priority and not an option.
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