AS Liverpool confirm their fourth signing of this summer, there has been a fairly mixed reaction from supporters.
Welcome, @Alex_OxChambo! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/joYm7hvK3m
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) 31 August 2017
There are a few who have gradually warmed to the idea of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the red of Merseyside as the club’s interest in him has intensified over the course of the transfer window.
There are still those who will point towards his numbers over his six-year spell at Arsenal and struggle to get excited. But how much of that has been down to the environment the player has been in and the factors around him?
It’s of little coincidence that his best return of goals and assists came during the 2016-17 season, where Arsene Wenger showed trust in Chamberlain for the first time by giving him an increased role, and he reaped the rewards for it.
The 24-year-old scored six goals in all competitions and picked up 11 assists, playing the majority of his games as a right winger. But that has reportedly been part of the issue for Chamberlain. While his attributes appear to suit the wing position — quick, strong and able to beat a man — it’s still the understated aspects of the game that Chamberlain excels in and that may be why he sees his future as a central midfielder.
So far this season, the former Arsenal man leads the league in take ons and is one of the top midfielders in terms of interceptions. Both of those stats would suggest Chamberlain is ready made for a place in Jürgen Klopp’s midfield.
While not excelling personally in Sunday’s clash between Arsenal and Liverpool, the way The Reds set up and how they overcame The Gunners showed glimpses of how Chamberlain could benefit the 4-0 victors that day.
Liverpool punished Arsenal by picking up the ball in key areas and making direct runs from deep positions. The sheer number of runners made it almost impossible for Arsenal’s back three to cope with and it showed in the four goals — all of which came as a result of winning the ball back and getting in the box quickly and in numbers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXSxKx6MxFI
To have another willing runner coming from deep can only be a benefit when Liverpool believe they can catch expansive opposition on the break. And with the way The Reds tend to spread goals around the team, who’s to say that Chamberlain can’t continue to surpass his past Premier League scoring tallies as he did last season?
When Chamberlain first broke on the scene as a youngster at Southampton, he managed 10 goals and nine assists over the course of one season in League One. He came to the Premier League as a 17-year-old with bags of potential and the weight of a £12million transfer fee on his young shoulders.
Most will agree that over six years later, Chamberlain is yet to meet that potential but a large majority of Liverpool supporters would back Klopp over anybody to get that out of him. Where Wenger has shown a lack of trust in Chamberlain and in some cases mismanaged him, Klopp will ensure the player feels empowered — though it remains to be seen whether his main role will be in his favoured central midfield position.
His versatility may be the reason that Chamberlain won’t always get his own way, but it is one of the most attractive things about the move. When Sadio Mane was absent last season Liverpool lacked pace and it really hindered them when teams sat deep, with no runners to get in behind or drag defenders out of position.
The Reds have looked to address that with the signing of Mohamed Salah this summer but beyond that it could have been seen as an issue. Chamberlain’s versatility means, alongside his coveted central midfield role, he can play on either wing and that will suit Klopp if he was without either of his starting speedsters.
One of the worries will be his injury record and there may be some cause for concern on that front. According to data from Transfermarkt the England international has had some recurrences of problems throughout his career, particularly issues with his knee, though strangely he managed to stay fit for the longest while getting more regular game time last season. Hopefully that will continue to be the case.
It’s easy to disregard the £35m man as another player who never met his potential, but at 24 Chamberlain still has a lot of learning to do and has some valuable experience to aid him — as well as a manager with a track record for getting the best out of players.
Wenger himself said earlier this summer: “Personally I believe he is a hugely talented player who is on the way up. He will continue to move up because the potential is there.
“Today he is conscious of his qualities. Personally I believe he will be a very great player.”
It seems unlikely that a star who once showed glimpses of shining so bright won’t still have something in him. And right now, there’s few better places than Anfield to realise that potential.
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
Step up upto the plate and sign VVD + Lemur… Smash it out the park Fenway
I’m ok with this (you’ll all be pleased to know). The more you think about it, the more you can see him vying with Winjaldum, rotating with Lallana or providing cover for Mane and Salah.
I think its good we have decent numbers in midfield so that no-one burns themselves out.
What he wont be doing is playing left wing back.
welcome
Adds much needed depth.
I was ambivalent about this but, given how light we were last season at times and the possibility his game will improve, it might turn out to be a great buy. Here’s hoping.
Also, while I’m not a transfer obsessive, this window has veered from decent to underwhelming to potentially amazing to who really knows any more. I’d argue that if we can’t get Lemar straight away, why not do a Naby and sign him now with a view to him arriving next summer?? It avoids any ludicrous scenarios like him idiotically pitching up at Arsenal, for example, plus since we’re keeping Phil for another year it means we have a potential replacement already in the bag.
As for VVD, until it’s 11.01 and it still hasn’t happened, I’ll hold out some hope as we shouldn’t forget that the main priority this summer was a top class centre half. He wants us, we want him, and I can see why signing someone else smacks of panic, but if he’s still at Southampton tomorrow (or worse, at Chelsea or City or wherever) then in the end we might be left with that familiar transfer window sensation of ‘what could have been’.
Come on LFC – surprise us.
Kloppo could trick all of us and play Ox as a striker?
With all those take ons and dripples, his speed and plus he is a ball player – he could play as a forward. I am not certain he works hard enough at this point to take a midfield spot at Liverpool. But given Origi went on loan then our strike force are: Firminio, Studge, Solanke, Ings and then possible Ox. Firminio got the work rate and brain to be CAM so maybe?
Ox
Mane Salah
Firminio
Can Henderson
Moreno Gomez Matip TAA
Mignolet
I suppose we have to take what we can get, and Oxlade-Chamberlain suddenly became available when he rejected the Chelsea deal. He’s a decent player, and should improve.
But I think he would count as overpriced in any transfer window prior to this one.
I also don’t see the need to spend that much on another attacking midfield player, when we need them elsewhere. I’d rather we doubled the money (the club clearly has that and more) and thrown it at Southampton for Van Dijk. We’ve allowed the ludicrous, hypocritical “tapping up” nonsense to bully us. We ought to be pushing for the whole outmoded “tapping up” concept to be got rid of. I’m hoping our negotiators have sent Southampton an offer they’d be fools to refuse.
Glad to have the OX on board but Wtf happened to building a proper defensive unit?
Our attack and midfield to some degree wasn’t/isn’t the issue.
Klopp would be foolish if he thinks Lovren and Moreno are the next Puyol and Alves, more like the Punch and Judy show.
We got lucky against Watford, Hoffenheim and Arsenal downed their tools including the OX.
So is VVD the only player in the world that Klopp thinks can do a defensive job?
Ox signing up because Wenger and Arsenal don’t have much to offer and thinks he will get the game time at LFC. What about Coutinho, Can and eventually Lallana?
As for Keita he is for next summer and hopefully he doesn’t get injured by then.
Ffs we have defensive problems way before Klopp and we still have these issues.
Slightly offtopic, but concerning the transfer window:
I am so happy for Ryan Kent. Freiburg is an amazing club and has together with Klopp the best “man-manager” of Germany as a their football manager. You might have never heared about Christian Streich, since he has been academy instructor for decades and since only managed Freiburg, but he is as much cult over in Germany as Klopp. freiburg develops amazing talents and regularly beats the odds (EL-qualifier on a shoe-string budget).
That’s news to me Sour Kraut. Thanks for sharing mate. Sounds like Kent will be in good hands and hope he can go on to become a real gem any where.
big thumbs up for this. Glad to hear.
Lets Bid for Freiburg’s Centre Backs then… these are the clubs our scouts should be camping in other then Southampton’s…
Happy with the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arsenal fans in general can be quite a hysterical & deluded bunch, but the few I’ve spoken with personally are lamenting the loss of what they consider to be a very gifted player.
Not sure where Klopp sees him positionally. I can’t say I’ve ever seen him play anywhere but wide areas. He obviously sees himself as a central player, much in the way Sturridge did at Chelsea, with good reason.
I can see him being a very effective player for us on either flank and cannot bring to mind many full-backs who will relish the thought of 75 minutes against Mane or Salah, only to then be faced with Oxlade-Chamberlain running at them.
I reckon if he does play centrally it can only be as one of a three, which is what we tend to play most of the time.
I wasn’t really a fan of bringing in any lily-livered Arsenal player, or spending big on an inflated England international. Sadly, AOC is both, but now he’s here I’m forcing myself to look for the positives and there are some:
Firstly, for his young age he has plenty of experience – and at the very highest level. He’s well acquainted with both tournament football – international (27 appearances and 6 goals), European Champions League (31 a and 4 g) and English (38 a and 7 g) – and Premier League football (132 a and 9 g).
Secondly, he is about the right age to be coming into his peak years after rather a long period of being at the same level, and around the same manager, club and city. A breath of fresh air, the stirring cry of the seagulls on the Mersey and the accelerated need to prove himself as a Red could propel him to the next level, or at least help him and us discover what he’s really about: If he flops, it won’t be the first or last time LFC spent big on a disappointment and unlike previous years he can be covered as we bought him mostly for depth and won’t be hanging our hats on him. If he thrives, we could have a better replacement for Raheem Sterling (who we sold for around £10-15mil more than we spent on the Ox).
Thirdly, he’s a very British player, more of a broadsword than a rapier, and will suit our needs when we have to roll up our sleeves against the more agricultural teams in the PL and Domestic Cups. I can see him helping us do what we couldn’t last season; beating the Crystal Palaces and Burnleys and West bloody Hams of this league. It’s going to be a long season, a lot of games all scrunched in together and our squad will need to have quality in depth. Whichever situation is in front of us, AOC has been through it before as mentioned in my first point, so all he really needs is to bed in with Liverpool’s players and game plan.
Finally, moving from Arsenal to Liverpool isn’t going to be a huge culture shock. Both are – at their best – fast attractive teams who play open attacking football. Both also have the conundrum of showing inconsistent effort, but at least AOC is prepared for that, he’s seen plenty of unlikely beatings against lower level teams, so like the rest of our team he just needs to find the solution.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not the cure for our ailments alone, but he is experienced, gifted and has time on his side. If we could be good for him, he could help get us back where we should be.
Welcome Alex! Do the shirt proud and we’ll love you like a son!
Agree with all of your points on AOC and chuckled at “A breath of fresh air, the stirring cry of the seagulls on the Mersey”, so poetic, though being an out of towner city dweller, I understand exactly what you mean having visited Liverpool a few times in the past.
Welcome Ox! Hope you do us proud.