Liverpool's EFL Cup Victory Reveals Frimpong and Endo's Struggles
Liverpool moved into the fourth round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night, but the story at Anfield ran well beyond the scoreline. Andoni Iraola ripped up his weekend team sheet, made 10 changes from the side that drew with Fulham, and used Tottenham Hotspur’s visit as an X-ray of his squad depth.
What it revealed was uncomfortable viewing for a couple of senior names.
Frimpong Exposed as Spurs Target the Flank
Cup nights are supposed to be a playground for the hopefuls. Trey Nyoni, James McConnell and Lewis Koumas all grabbed rare starts, the kind of opportunity that can change a season. Jeremie Frimpong got one too. He may come to remember it for different reasons.
Preferred to Ronald Araujo at right-back, the Netherlands international walked into a system that should suit him. Iraola wants his full-backs to fly forward, to stretch games, to live high up the pitch. Frimpong barely flickered.
Instead of tormenting Tottenham, he spent most of his 90 minutes firefighting. Spurs quickly identified his side as Liverpool’s weak spot and went after it relentlessly. Mathys Tel, Mohammed Kudus and Omar Marmoush all had a run at him. Too often, they got joy.
The attacking thrust that defined Frimpong at Bayer Leverkusen has not yet translated to Anfield. In a red shirt, he has struggled to convince, and sections of the fanbase have not been shy in their criticism stretching back into last season. This was a chance to quieten that noise. It didn’t happen.
Right now, the picture is stark. Araujo is clearly Iraola’s first-choice right-back. Conor Bradley is edging back from injury and will expect to reclaim minutes as soon as he is fit. Frimpong, signed for £30m in the summer of 2025, is fighting not for a starting spot, but for relevance.
Inside the club, he is viewed as one of the weaker links in the squad. That assessment carries a bigger implication: Liverpool still haven’t found anyone who can come close to replicating what Trent Alexander-Arnold gave them on that flank before his move to Real Madrid. If Frimpong cannot close that gap, recruitment will have to.
For now, the Dutchman has a lot of ground to make up. Nights like this were supposed to help him do it. Instead, they only underlined how far he still has to go.
Endo Left Watching as Kids Leapfrog Him
If Frimpong’s performance raised questions, Wataru Endo’s evening provided a brutal answer of a different kind.
The 33-year-old never left the bench. On a night of wholesale rotation, when Iraola shuffled almost his entire XI and handed responsibility to teenagers, Liverpool’s veteran midfielder stayed glued to his seat. That silence spoke loudly.
The warning signs had already flashed. Endo was left out of Liverpool’s 25-man Champions League squad last week, alongside Federico Chiesa, while youngsters McConnell and Nyoni were both included. Selection for Europe often reveals a manager’s true hierarchy. Endo’s omission put him near the bottom.
Tottenham at home, in the early rounds of the EFL Cup, looked tailor-made for a reset. Ten changes. A lower-stakes environment. A chance to give a £16m signing some rhythm, maybe even at centre-back, where he impressed against Como in pre-season. Instead, nothing.
Iraola trusted 22-year-old McConnell and 19-year-old Nyoni to start in midfield. Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai, both on the bench, also sat ahead of Endo in the pecking order. When the manager turned to his options, he still did not turn to the Japan international.
The Spaniard has been honest about the situation.
“The problem is, in front of him in his position, I have a lot of players,” Iraola said recently. “He’s competing against a lot of players because we are also giving minutes to Trey (Nyoni), Ryan (Gravenberch), Alexis (Mac Allister), Dom (Szoboszlai), players that I am selecting right now.
“But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”
The words are kind. The reality is ruthless. If Endo cannot get on the pitch in a game like this, with mass rotation and kids promoted ahead of him, when exactly will those “moments” arrive?
His contract expires at the end of the season. With so many midfielders clearly ahead of him, Liverpool are staring at a final window in January to claw back some of their investment. The logic is obvious. The manager doesn’t trust him enough to play him. The club cannot afford passengers in a squad chasing honours on multiple fronts.
For Endo, the writing feels almost complete. Iraola plainly does not fancy him as a key part of this project, and an exit in a few months’ time looks the cleanest solution for everyone involved.
Anfield celebrated progression in the cup on Tuesday night. For two players on its fringes, the evening carried a far sharper message about where their Liverpool careers are heading.
