Alex Oxlade Chamberlain had signed a 5 year contract for Liverpool this season from Arsenal with a transfer fee of 35 million pounds. He had played the most of the part of his career in Arsenal from 2011 to 2017. He had appeared for 132 matches for Arsenal putting his name in score-sheet 9 times. He was nominated as PFA Player of The Year in his first season at Arsenal. He was also nominated for Golden Boy Award in 2013 for his brilliant performances for Arsenal and England National Team.
The player’s career was mostly affected by injuries and his form was also in a descent for the last few seasons. So Arsene Wenger had decided to play him as a wingback in this season as in this season Wenger opted to play with a 3-4-3 formation. But Chamberlain wished to play in the midfield. So he joined Liverpool in this summer transfer window. But the things had not gone the way he might have thought.
He had only started one match for Liverpool till date in a League Cup match. Otherwise, in most of the times he was seen in the Liverpool reserve bench. The criticisms are coming from different corners for Chamberlain about his decision of joining Liverpool this season.
“I think he needs to go back to basics that got him to the level he was at and once that confidence grows.”, former English footballer Robbie Fowler said.
“Look he’s had a bit of a tough start if we’re all being honest,” Fowler told.
“He’s obviously a good player, he’s played for a good Arsenal team and he’s playing for good Liverpool team now.”
“But I think he looks a real confidence player.
“I think he needs to go back to basics that got him to the level he was at and once that confidence grows, I think we’ll see a much better Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“I think playing under Jurgen Klopp, he will get that confidence out of him.”, Fowler added.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain had got his first goal against Maribor in the Champions League Group Stage Match coming on as a substitute. The player is still not losing his confidence level after not getting the expected chance in Liverpool.
“It’s a competitive team that I’ve come into,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told. “Everyone’s fighting for their place and I’m just ready for when I get the opportunity.
“I need to keep developing and learning a new style of play here and get used to that and then whenever I get my opportunities try to do as well as I can.”
“We’re in an important part of the season where we want to get off to a good start and we’ve got a few results that haven’t gone our way,” Oxlade-Chamberlain added. “Every week it feels like we’ve got a lot of goals in us and it’s just not clicking at the right moment.
“I think we create a lot of opportunities and I hear people saying the stats are always Liverpool have 20 shots a game. So if we keep doing those things that’s the important thing — that we keep creating chances and keep trying and hopefully it will come off for us.”
But the matter of fact is the chance of seeing Chamberlain in the starting line up of Liverpool is not in very higher side. Liverpool already have Emre Can, Wijnaldum and Henderson as three recognized central midfielders. Jurgen Klopp is preferring to play with a 4-3-3 formation this season. He sometimes also tried Philippe Coutinho in the midfield this season to give Firmino, Salah and Mane the chance to play in the upfront.
So, it’s really difficult for Chamberlain to make his appearance in the Liverpool starting eleven overnight. He has to wait for his chance and make full utilisation of that chance to get Klopp’s faith in him. Some sources are also saying that Klopp might try him as a wingback player in Liverpool for the upcoming matches.
But one thing is clear from the whole scenario that the future of Chamberlain is very much uncertain in Liverpool. He might have to regret his decision of joining Liverpool after this season as he has now lost his secured place in Arsenal and this might cause him to be excluded from the England National Team Squad for the World Cup 2018 due to lack of game time this season.
So from a Hero At Arsenal To A Zero At Liverpool- Maybe the biggest mistake of this season’s summer transfer window.
