Scott Groom reviews Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s debut season at Liverpool after the English international made the switch from London to Merseyside.
Hindsight, they say, is a wonderful thing. The number of times we find ourselves in situations when we wished we had thought differently than we originally had is baffling, and this is often true when it comes to transfers – especially those involving incomings at Anfield in recent times.
Jürgen Klopp, Michael Edwards and the transfer team at Liverpool have been working wonders in recent seasons. Players have been rigorously scouted and recruited and have often made some shrewd acquisitions in recent seasons: Sadio Mané, Andrew Robertson, Gini Wijnaldum and Mo Salah have all proved to be absolute bargains.
But you cannot mention a bargain and Liverpool in the same sentence without mentioning Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The former Southampton and Arsenal man arrived at Anfield last summer on deadline day for £35million – a fee which raised a fair few eyebrows for a player who many thought hadn’t lived up to his potential and only had one year remaining on his deal at The Emirates.
He had often been the subject of scrutiny during his time in the capital, with many feeling he had failed to unlock his potential and push on tot he next level and I don’t think it’s unfair to say that this form epitomised his very early Liverpool career.
Playing in fits and starts, Ox took a while to warm up under Klopp, something which plenty fans didn’t seem to have the patience for. Klopp wasn’t worried though, constantly stating that Ox needs time to adapt not just to a new team and manager, but new tactics and a new role as he started being utilised in a more central role as he had so often expressed a desire to do at Arsenal.
It is a testament to Ox really that he chose to leave Arsenal in pursuit of fulfilling himself, and an even further testament to himself that all of his hard work started paying dividends.
The first game in which he really started to look like he belonged was the 1-4 away win in November against West Ham. He was dynamic, broke the lines, scored and had an all-round solid game. Since then, his performances only got better and better.
He seems to have rediscovered his mojo, he buzzes around the pitch and, perhaps more tellingly, has endeared himself to Liverpool fans who now love him and would put his name on the team sheet automatically every week.
He’s added goals, assists, distribution, work rate and mettle to his game and he has reaped the rewards. Nobody could argue that he deserved his defining moment of the season against Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
A wonderful, barnstorming thunderbolt of a strike right into Ederson’s top corner from 30 yards (adding to the 20-yard beauty he netted against City at Anfield in the 4-3 league victory) felt like a coming of age moment for him – and he deserved it.
Yes, there are still aspects of his game which require improvement but name me a footballer who doesn’t need improvement.
Everything about him screams Liverpool Football Club – his demeanour on and off the pitch, his passion, his style of play, his love for the fans which is reciprocated by them. He has, as Klopp told Kopites during his first ever Liverpool press conference, turned doubters into believers and at £35 million looks like another shrewd bit of business for The Reds.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though, as Ox’s season was cruelly cut short with a serious knee injury sustained in the first leg against Roma. It shows how far he’s come and how highly everyone rates him when the sense of dread around his injury and its seriousness reared their heads in unison.
We hope to see this lad back on the pitch sooner rather than later as he has proved a real asset for Liverpool and a huge loss for Arsenal.
We can only hope that his injury doesn’t halt his progress and that he comes back fitter, stronger and continues his upward trajectory at Anfield.
If he does, which I think he will, then he’ll be some player.
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