Jack Hallows believes that recent performances have proven that Jürgen Klopp is getting the best out of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
This Liverpool team has honestly slipped into the kind of groove now where you could analyse any part of the line-up and come out with a positive point of view. There are seemingly no glaring weak-links and those who are seen as such by opposition sides are stepping up to prove that they have what it takes.
One such player is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Englishman is a strange commodity in that, despite the majority of fans holding serious doubts over the price Liverpool paid for him in the summer, he’s evidently a highly rated talent.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea chased him in the summer while Arsene Wenger did his best to convince him to renew his Arsenal contract. Even recently Pep Guardiola surprised many by claiming Chamberlain was one of the players he feared most ahead of the Liverpool-City Champions League clashes.
For the fans, however, it was initially a case of Liverpool paying over the odds for a player who has demonstrated inconsistency at the top level and an inability to force his way into his favoured position at Arsenal. Not a 2003/04 invincibles Arsenal but a struggling, slightly bipolar Arsenal side capable of playing superb football one week and crumbling under slight pressure the next.
When you look at the bigger picture, you can understand the frustrations. The Reds were at the time struggling and ultimately failing to sign Virgil van Dijk, the Naby Keïta deal hadn’t gone the way we wanted, Philippe Coutinho was kicking up a fuss and Monaco’s Thomas Lemar – an arguably more exciting name – was touted as Chamberlain’s £70m alternative.
It’s to Chamberlain’s credit that eight months later, he’s proven the majority of us wrong.
Playing his preferred position
When he was at Arsenal, Chamberlain was used in practically every single position other than the one he wanted to operate in.
Despite even publicly expressing his desire to operate in the midfield after Arsenal’s last FA Cup win and how he’s “always wanted to be like Steven Gerrard,” Chamberlain was used primarily out wide by Arsene Wenger as both a winger and a wing-back during his time in London.
You can understand why – he has raw pace to burn and a decent cross on him – but when you consider his own admission that he “prefers the ball to feet,” and the way he’s capable of driving a team forward from deeper areas of the pitch, you have to wonder why Wenger didn’t give him more chances.
Playing centrally has allowed Chamberlain to become more involved in games and he’s not been hit with the accusation that he hides on the fringes of games like he was when playing out wide at Arsenal. In his last three starts, the 24-year-old has averaged 53 touches and has managed to get on the ball all over the pitch, suggesting he’s been more than willing to offer himself up for a pass in each third.
It’s also not as if Chamberlain is just getting the ball and doing nothing with it either. The Englishman has completed an astounding 15 dribbles in his last three appearances despite playing in midfield, exhibiting his ability to drive the Reds forward in possession while of the 96 passes he made across those games, 53 were sent forward.
End product
Another issue raised by fans upon Chamberlain’s signing was a collective reservation over his seeming lack of end product.
Too often Liverpool have in recent years shelled out big money for players who have ended up with a frankly embarrassing goals to games ratio and while you don’t expect central midfielders to bang 20 a season, it’s nice to see them contribute the odd strike here and there.
When Chamberlain arrived, he’d not managed more than six goals in a single season in all competitions for Arsenal, notching 20 times over 198 matches in total. His highest scoring league season? 2.
While admittedly Chamberlain hasn’t hit Coutinho levels of scoring and assisting from the midfield, when the Englishman starts games he certainly contributes. The former Arsenal man has managed 4 goals and 5 assists in 13 midfield starts in all competitions for Klopp’s men while also grabbing an assist in his only Premier League start in the front three against Chelsea back in November.
His total numbers of 39 appearances in all competitions for 5 goals and 6 assists may not be mind-blowing but the above stats show that when he starts, he generally contributes.
His goals have also, for the most part, been important too.
His opener against Manchester City in January set the tone for the Reds performance while his absolute rocket against the same opposition in the Champions League looked to have knocked the stuffing out of Guardiola’s men. He also notched the third goal and killer blow at the Olympic Stadium just seconds after West Ham’s Lanzini looked to have bought the Hammers a lifeline.
Look, despite Gerrard obviously being a major role-model and inspiration for Chamberlain, it’s likely he won’t reach the Liverpool legend’s level but let’s be honest, how many players actually will in our lifetime?
This, however, does not mean that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t played a vital role in Liverpool’s so far impressive season and can’t be a key player for the club in the years to come. His pace, direct dribbling style, rocket of a shot and intelligent use of the ball are all beneficial in the Reds’ midfield while the big game experience he accrued at Arsenal has served him well so far on Merseyside.
Credit to Klopp for doing what Arsene Wenger seemingly couldn’t. Getting the best out of this quality player.
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