With reports that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is upset with his game time at Liverpool, he still finds himself with more questions than answers…
I FOUND myself having a moment of weakness the other week.
Liverpool had just drawn 2-2 with Brighton & Hove Albion and Adam Lallana was undergoing a lap of honour around the Anfield pitch. I turned to my mate to express my undying love for the Seagulls’ midfielder and felt myself getting a bit overwhelmed.
You may think that’s daft, or that it was some kind of byproduct of The Reds dropping two more disappointing points, but I promise it wasn’t.
It partly came from a personal angle. I had interviewed Lallana about the Borussia Dortmund comeback in 2016 just after Brighton beat Liverpool at Anfield behind closed doors last season, and after the interview he spoke of how weird the experience was. He had expected to go back, see his old mates, see the fans, show his appreciation and feel it reciprocated.
Instead, he wasn’t even really allowed to be in close proximity to his former teammates and coaches, and there wasn’t a single supporter in the stands — save for the press box Reds and the odd matchday official.
But also I just miss him, to be honest. I miss him, and I miss Daniel Sturridge (steady hands I rebuke you), and I miss Gini Wijnaldum, and the list could go on. They’re lads who have given me some of the best moments of my adult life so far and I’ll never forget that. I hope each eventually gets the reception Lallana got.
I’ve gone soft, haven’t I? It’s probably why the Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rumours have given me seriously conflicting feelings.
The Ox’s career still feels like one of slightly wasted potential, which is mad considering he’s a 28-year-old who has won almost every top honour in English and European football. It still feels like he could have always been that little bit more, but the injuries have been ever present for him and I’m sure that eats him up far more than it could any of us.
His best spell in a Liverpool shirt came during the 2017-18 season, with goals to help seal wins against Manchester City in the Premier League and Champions League the highlights, finishing with five goals and eight assists. He made just two appearances the following season, then recorded his best scoring season with eight goals in 2019-20.
Those seasons made up 87 (75 per cent) of his 116 appearances in a red shirt. In the season and a bit that brings us to the current day, he has made just seven starts despite being named in the squad some 29 times. That limited game time has brought him just one goal and three assists.
It makes for pretty bleak reading for a lad who was previously a huge part of Jurgen Klopp’s identity he was imprinting upon this Liverpool side. Now he represents a slightly more problematic figure, with his reliability and overall ability coming into question in the face of an injury crisis in midfield.
What should’ve been a moment to get a grip of his career at Anfield and rediscover his finest form has suddenly become anything but, and it felt as though it was only a matter before rumours of unrest started to come to the fore — as reported by Neil Jones of Goal.com.
Chamberlain seems not only a good lad, but one that Klopp trusts to be able to be very frank with. The manager has made little secret of that with several mentions of the player in his recent press conferences, where reading between the lines you get the feeling that he feels he can’t do the jobs that others in the squad can nowadays.
So once again the former Arsenal man finds himself with more questions than answers about what comes next. I personally will continue to struggle with those questions, because it’s impossible for me to not make it a personal matter. I’m sure that’s a far more intense feeling for him and his manager.
I’ll always have the memories of Oxlade-Chamberlain if nothing else. I’ll cling onto the idea that there is still more to come. There may always be that feeling it could’ve been even more, though.
Perhaps he can still show the more we’re looking for, but time waits for no man.
He has been a good servant and we really appreciate him but it seems he has passed his prime plus we need a different type of player in our midfield rather than his type.
Positional wise, Ox seems like he can fit in the midfield or a wide man of the front three. However, his ability does not surpass any of our current players in the aforementioned positions.
If you look at the pecking order for our midfielders, Ox is likely to be lower down. Fabinho, Thiago and Henderson will all rank higher with Naby Keïta and Curtis Jones fighting for positions as backup and if fit have better chance of playing than him.
Attacking wise, Bobby, Mo, Mané and Jota take up the top rankings with Takumi Minamino potentially rounding out the top five that’s it.
So we need to let him move on to free space for a Gini type of midfielder.
Eight prem goals in five seasons. His injury record is atrocious. Time to buy replacements for Naby, Ox, Gini.
Midfield was dire in the last two prem games. Offered no protection to the defence.
Predicting the future, therein lie demons, you never know he may still have is best years in front of him…probably not…but we don’t and can’t know.
Could have done without the big smily hug with Declan Rice at the final whistle mind, I know they’re all mates etc…but still, we don’t want to see that when we’re already fit to burst with rage.
I feel like we have a big problem in our midfield. We ask so much from them and being stuck with an entire crop who are injury prone and would be hard to move on leaves a vulnerable.
Hendo is looking increasingly like his engine is starting to go, and that had been his biggest asset.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we really miss Gini.