Jurgen Klopp is quite clearly thrilled as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain nears a return from injury. The Englishman hasn’t played this season.
Jurgen Klopp has only good things to say about Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the player nears his return.
The boss says the player is in ‘normal’ training and that he’ll play soon. That could come as soon as Sunday but it’s ‘wait and see’ on that one.
Regardless of the exact game, it’s clear we’ll see Oxlade-Chamberlain very soon. And Klopp is clearly thrilled at the prospect.
“He is just a very positive person, very optimistic person,” Klopp said on Friday, per Sky Sports. “In a moment when Ox joins parts of team training again, everybody gets the benefit of that. That’s the way he is.
“You don’t know that you are missing him because he is not there for a long time and then the moment he comes in and is in the gym with the players they say ‘OK, right…it’s much better when he is here’. That’s Ox.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain has battled injuries throughout his Liverpool career, of course. He started slowly but ended up thriving in a midfield role during his first season, only for injury to halt everything.
The Englishman went down in a Champions League semi-final against Roma with a knee injury so serious that we didn’t see him again properly for over a year.
It’s quite a devastating blow, then, that injury has once again got in the way. Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t played at all this season, after all.
And it’s a season where he definitely would see action. The compacted campaign, coupled with an injury crisis, means the Reds are crying out for a versatile, energetic player like Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Thankfully, he should be back soon. And if he can hit the ground running, he could prove to be a difference-maker in the hunt for trophies.
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