Easter Sunday had the potential to be a damaging day for Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
A tricky looking visit of Brighton got off to the worst possible start when Danny Welbeck fired the Seagulls ahead inside two minutes.
Arsenal and Manchester City – set to meet later on at the Etihad Stadium – must have been licking their lips. But from there, Liverpool resurrected themselves; Alexis Mac Allister the architect of another come-from-behind victory.
Mac Allister wasn’t alone in his excellence, mind you. The Reds midfield on the day was brilliant as a whole. Dominik Szoboszlai earned special praise from Jurgen Klopp post-game and he’d earned it.
But the manager also had some words of admiration for what he’d seen from Wataru Endo. He and Mac Allister especially have formed a wonderful partnership, and Klopp has just put that into context in his own hilarious way.
Jurgen Klopp calls for Wataru Endo movie
Part of the reason Liverpool fans are going to miss Klopp so dearly is because of his ability to deliver some quite brilliant one-liners.
The 56-year-old is a unique character. At times his persona appears to enrage opposition fans but he’ll make few apologies for it. Jurgen simply doesn’t care what anybody except Liverpool supporters think of him.
And it’s quotes like the one he gave about Endo and Mac Allister while speaking to LFCTV yesterday that will live long in the memory.
The pair have indeed become synonymous with each other on the pitch. After the draw against Manchester City in March, Endo admitted that he and Mac Allister are ‘always looking’ for each other during games. And according to Klopp, the duo continue searching for one another after them, too.
“When I saw after the game when I went to the Kop, in front of me were Macca and Endo, they got eye contact. How they looked at each other, wow!” laughed the boss.
“You could probably easily make a 95-minute movie, a love movie about it, that was so great! They really enjoy playing with each other now.”
Endo and Mac Allister continue to click
This is a brilliant quip from Klopp that may well leave Endo and Mac Allister a little embarrassed. But it’s obvious that the two are loving being in the same team.
From Macca’s point of view, having the Japanese sitting in the No.6 role has finally allowed him to fully express himself in a Liverpool shirt.
Previously doing that job himself, Mac Allister now no longer needs to worry as much about his defensive duties. He still performs them, no doubt about that, but Endo is the man who does the heavy lifting. The benefits of that have become clear, with the World Cup winner providing eight goal contributions in his last nine games.
According to Klopp, Mac Allister simply ‘loves’ playing for Liverpool right now. Judging from Jurgen’s latest comments, there’s one teammate who’s holding his affection more than any other.