Author Topic: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain  (Read 754413 times)

Offline MD1990

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3000 on: August 17, 2019, 08:51:01 pm »
I'm not really comparing, because for me Shaq is a far better player.
Shaqiri hasn't played well in 6 months for us.

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3001 on: August 17, 2019, 09:02:40 pm »
Shaqiri hasn't played well in 6 months for us.

You obviously have missed the game against Barca.
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Offline hesbighesred

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3002 on: August 17, 2019, 09:06:33 pm »
You obviously have missed the game against Barca.
Odd example to choose, he was awful in the first half. He is a quality player though and I'm delighted to have him, no doubt about that!
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Offline kkapo18

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3003 on: August 17, 2019, 09:09:16 pm »
Starting to get back to his best and will be very much needed if we are to get close to city again this season!

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3004 on: August 17, 2019, 09:14:34 pm »
Odd example to choose, he was awful in the first half. He is a quality player though and I'm delighted to have him, no doubt about that!

He was god awful in that first half and had a major part to play in the 2nd. But again taht wasn't a performance as an 8, so it's pointless all together.

He's a good player, his time will come if he puts in the effort and wins his place when needed.


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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3005 on: August 17, 2019, 09:16:06 pm »
Ox has started the last 2 games. Shaq hasn't had a sniff. Pretty conclusive.

Offline Fromola

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3006 on: August 17, 2019, 09:16:25 pm »
Shaqiri hasn't played well in 6 months for us.

Has he played 2 games in that time?
Could have done with Grujic and even Chirivella to tide us over this season

Offline keyop

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3007 on: August 17, 2019, 09:31:35 pm »
Think people don't realise how debilitating these kind of injuries are. Not just physically either, mentally he will be fragile for a while until he is confident in his legs once more.

The mental side of recovery cannot be understated, and for such a strong physical player it'll take a while to get all that confidence and bravery back. I thought he did really well today and was getting stuck in, driving forward, and looked really lively, so hopefully he continues to steadily get back to his best and become a key part of our midfield.
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3008 on: August 17, 2019, 10:03:39 pm »
Yeah, in order to do that, he should play first.

He plays every day.
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Offline latortuga

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3009 on: August 18, 2019, 02:36:07 am »
Great energy from the Ox today, particularly on the often unheralded 'defensive' side of the ball. 

Patiently await the much anticipated Keita-Fabinho-Ox midfield.  8)

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3010 on: August 18, 2019, 08:35:19 am »
Thanks to Shaq and other 2-3 individuals, Switzerland is now 11 on FIFA ranking (last year they were 8th). Before that they were no better than the likes of Luxembourg or San Marino. Shaq is the better player.

What the fuck is this?! Switzerland have been a top 20 ranked team for years and have never ever been close to the level of San Marino.
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Offline Crimson

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3011 on: August 18, 2019, 09:18:09 am »
Looked class yesterday. Did not look like a player that have been out of the side for a year. Delighted for him.
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Offline thejbs

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3012 on: August 18, 2019, 09:25:20 am »
What the fuck is this?! Switzerland have been a top 20 ranked team for years and have never ever been close to the level of San Marino.

Exactly! When Switzerland were at their lowest ebb (around 80th in 1998) San Marino and Luxembourg were still around 100 positions behind them.

Offline IanZG

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3013 on: August 18, 2019, 09:25:44 am »
What the fuck is this?! Switzerland have been a top 20 ranked team for years and have never ever been close to the level of San Marino.

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/associations/association=SUI/men/index.html

I mean you could make the argument that their rise to the top 20 coincided with Shaqiri entering the team (around 2010), but they were always miles above the other teams he mentioned. But this is entirely off topic, mods please remove if you feel this discussion doesn't belong here.

Offline HeartAndSoul

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3014 on: August 18, 2019, 09:43:37 am »
Needs to play through the middle. Wasn’t great first half but then again who was but was much better in the second. He’s wasted out wide and doesn’t affect the game as much as he does playing centrally. Hopefully we only see him in a midfield 3 from now on

Offline Fromola

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3015 on: August 18, 2019, 10:28:56 am »
The fact he started today and Wednesday shows Klopp sees him either as a starter or his main offensive back up option.

Lallana, Shaq and Brewster not had a minute yet.
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3016 on: August 18, 2019, 10:50:10 am »
I liked him tracking back to defend yesterday on top of the attacking talent he shows off. Good spirit and attitude

Offline Ghost Town

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3017 on: August 18, 2019, 12:22:45 pm »
Think he might be most effective knowing Fabinho is in position and clearing up behind him. That will allow him to think vertically and play those great passes through for Mo and the rest
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3018 on: August 18, 2019, 12:30:13 pm »
I'm not really comparing, because for me Shaq is a far better player.

 :lmao :lmao :lmao
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3019 on: August 18, 2019, 04:02:43 pm »
The fact he started today and Wednesday shows Klopp sees him either as a starter or his main offensive back up option.

Lallana, Shaq and Brewster not had a minute yet.

Yep, would like to see Brewster get Minutes from the bench at least

Offline Mighty_Red

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3020 on: August 18, 2019, 04:24:07 pm »
I liked him tracking back to defend yesterday on top of the attacking talent he shows off. Good spirit and attitude

He covered TAA well when they went on the counter, I guess that comes from his spell playing RB at Arsenal. He certainly would've been a good attacking RB option back in Jan when we were short at RB.

The fact he started today and Wednesday shows Klopp sees him either as a starter or his main offensive back up option.

Lallana, Shaq and Brewster not had a minute yet.

I wouldn't expect anything else - he was clearly the first choice #8 before his injury and he will mostly share the role with Keita this season with Lallana filling in on occasion.
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Offline scutty

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3021 on: August 18, 2019, 04:28:21 pm »
Great energy from the Ox today, particularly on the often unheralded 'defensive' side of the ball. 

Patiently await the much anticipated Keita-Fabinho-Ox midfield.  8)

Really good to see him playing again. looking forward to seeing him play more

He's made for this team klopp is building.

Keita-Fabinho-Ox  :thumbup
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3022 on: August 18, 2019, 07:25:03 pm »
I thought he looked really good, those times he was able to take the ball in midfield and lay it off and then turn and run was great, and the ability to carry the ball from deep - not necessarily taking people on but coming deep to get the ball and just running at those gaps he sees is something we don't have in the side - maybe only Fabinho likes to try this. Henderson, Milner and Gini are more like lo lay the ball off wide or play it into the forwards. AOC just seems to bring us up the pitch quite quickly.

He was disappointing against Chelsea but yesterday I thought he was really promising. Hopefully he stays fit, as i think Klopp will put a lot of faith in him.

Offline Nick110581

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3023 on: August 18, 2019, 08:42:35 pm »
Played really well second half.
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Offline harleydanger

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3024 on: August 19, 2019, 02:54:14 am »
Adds a bit of swinging dick to a very workman like midfield.
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Offline Redcap

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3025 on: August 19, 2019, 04:29:37 am »
I thought he actually looked pretty good both halves. If you look at his every touch video, there isn't that much he does wrong.

Ox every game until Keita comes back as far as I'm concerned.

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3026 on: August 19, 2019, 04:38:32 am »
I thought he actually looked pretty good both halves. If you look at his every touch video, there isn't that much he does wrong.

Ox every game until Keita comes back as far as I'm concerned.
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3027 on: August 19, 2019, 07:44:56 am »
Goal against arsenal please ox.
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Offline gjr1

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3028 on: August 19, 2019, 09:58:18 am »
Great game for the Ox I thought.

Can’t wait for him to score, hopefully against the arse

Anyone who has an issue with his Wednesday performance needs to get a grip. He played in a position that didn’t work for him.

Klopp saw that and changed it at half time
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Offline redk84

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3029 on: August 19, 2019, 11:59:41 am »
Happy that he played well. We'll need him this season, and as many of the midfielders to be in form as possible
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3030 on: August 19, 2019, 12:08:11 pm »
Adds a bit of swinging dick to a very workman like midfield.
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Offline JackWard33

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3031 on: August 19, 2019, 01:13:31 pm »
He’s just such a good player if he gets back to his best.... but more than that we don’t have anyone else in the squad who can do what he does
Keita does sort of an imitation of it but Keita is really a middle third player ... AOC is the only legit AM in the squad with top level attacking ability but also the physicality to defend the position in a Klopp system
Trying not to get carried away with his comeback because he really is a difference maker to this team

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3032 on: August 19, 2019, 01:24:07 pm »
Still a ways off from his original level when he got injured. He's improving with match fitness as some of his linkup play with Mo was fantastic. That's where I see a Fabi/Nabi/Ox midfield 3 be our best choice in the middle because Naby can have that same link up play with Mane and Ox and it becomes that much easier for us to overload the flanks against deep sitting sides.

Offline simbo

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3033 on: August 19, 2019, 01:41:20 pm »
Yep, would like to see Brewster get Minutes from the bench at least

Id like to see him just make the bench at least

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3034 on: August 22, 2019, 10:03:31 am »
Setbacks, surgery and Milner's hug - The inside story of Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury 'nightmare'

Neil Jones

Liverpool correspondent
Last updated 42 minutes ago

It's been a long road back for the Liverpool midfielder, whose injury was "about as bad as it gets", but he is trying to re-launch his Anfield career
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was all smiles as he left St Mary’s, and no wonder.

Never mind the three points Liverpool had secured away at Southampton last weekend – vital, even at this stage of the season – for the England international this was about so much more.

After 16 months, after the long days and the dark nights, after the operations and the setbacks and the doubts and the worries, he was finally back playing football.

“That’s what you miss,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain, reflecting on his first Premier League start since April 2018. “Outstandingly good,” was Jurgen Klopp’s assessment of his performance against his former club.

It’s been a long old road to this point. Lesser players, lesser characters, may have crumbled, so severe was the injury, so challenging was the recovery.

“An injury within an injury within an injury,” is how Oxlade-Chamberlain describes the result of an innocuous sliding challenge on Roma’s Aleksandar Kolarov during the Champions League semi-final at Anfield.

He’d tried to play on that night, but knew something wasn’t right. At first, he feared his season was over. He lay in the dressing room listening to the Reds scoring goal after goal, wondering how long he’d miss. A month, maybe? Six weeks, perhaps?

That night he could barely stand on the leg, such was the pain. A few days later and Andy Massey, the Liverpool doctor, brought the full, devastating diagnosis.

He’d not only torn his anterior cruciate ligament, but also ruptured his lateral collateral ligament too. His medial ligament was damaged, while his lateral hamstring tendon had been torn clean off the bone. It was, Massey told him, about as bad as it gets.

The news was kept from the media so as not to create a distraction, but Oxlade-Chamberlain remembers the reaction of his team-mates vividly. James Milner, the least sentimental member of the Liverpool squad, was lost for words.

“He put his arm around me,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain. “That made me emotional.”

A week later, he went under the knife at London’s Cromwell hospital. Surgeon Andy Williams performed a full ACL reconstruction, as well as taking an 11cm graft from his medial tendon in order to repair his hamstring.

The road to recovery started there and then.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, on crutches, was in Kiev as Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Two days later, and as his team-mates headed off on holiday or to the World Cup, he was back at Melwood. Long days, painful days.

The life of an injured footballer is an unusual one, littered with repetition and self-doubt. Oxlade-Chamberlain was on crutches for six weeks but worked every day. He would swim, he would perform arduous strengthening exercises and do long, sweaty sessions on the ‘arm bike’ at Melwood.

At home in Cheshire, he would wear a backpack to avoid unnecessary trips back and forth – “like going camping in your own house" – and spent many an uncomfortable evening in bed, desperate to use the toilet but keen not to wake his girlfriend, Perrie Edwards of the pop group Little Mix.

“I can’t wake my girlfriend up at 4am and say ‘Can you empty my wee?’" he said.

Sometimes he would return to London, where he and Perrie have a home and where he would work with one of his former physios from Arsenal.

Liverpool afford flexibility with long-term injury victims, aware that monotony at Melwood is not always good for a player’s state of mind. Rhian Brewster, who became Oxlade-Chamberlain’s ‘recovery buddy’ as they battled back towards fitness, was afforded the same treatment, while others have been sent to Florida or Dubai for a change of scenery.

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s mother, Wendy, is a physiotherapist, and her son, unsurprisingly, proved a curious patient. He would spend time at home researching, and would pick the brains of others who had suffered similar injuries. Carl Jenkinson, his former Arsenal team-mate, was one.

Physios at Liverpool were driven to distraction by Oxlade-Chamberlain’s questions.

One, in particular, became a key figure in his recovery. Richie Partridge spent eight years on Liverpool’s books as a player, making three first-team appearances, but is now an integral part of the club’s rehabilitation team.

It was Partridge who, according to club sources, became Oxlade-Chamberlain’s “wing man” during his recovery. He would check on him daily, even accompanying him on holidays to Greece, Dubai and America, so that his treatment and rehab could be monitored.

"He's been having a great time," joked Oxlade-Chamberlain in one Instagram video. The pair have become inseperable.

There was another operation, last August, in which the knee, and the muscles around it, were manipulated in order to improve flexibility. He still has the video of that procedure on his phone. It is, by all accounts, a rather gruesome watch.

It worked, though. By December, Oxlade-Chamberlain was back running outside at Melwood – posting a celebratory picture to mark the occasion. By February, he was ready to join in with his team-mates again. His first session came in Marbella; a week later, back on Merseyside, he remembers being ‘welcomed’ back by captain Jordan Henderson with a clattering in a small-sided game.

Then came a step forward and a setback, all rolled into one. He was picked to play for Liverpool’s under-23 team in a Premier League 2 fixture at Derby’s Moor Farm training centre. Klopp told the media he’d looked a million dollars in training, and hinted he could be ready to play a part in the team’s crucial run-in.

Interest, naturally, was high, but the day before the game Oxlade-Chamberlain felt a tightness in his right hamstring, the one rebuilt by Andy Williams. A scan said it was nothing serious, but he went to Derby with a sense of unease. The day became, in his own words, “a nightmare”.

Just a couple of minutes into the game – which had naturally attracted a sizeable crowd, including this correspondent – he felt the hamstring again. He should have gone off immediately but, eager to avoid adverse headlines, he persevered for 41 minutes before admitting defeat.

Heading to the dressing room, he offered a thumbs-up to the reporters who had travelled from Merseyside, but knew something wasn’t right.

A grade one tear was diagnosed that day, meaning another week of recovery. Back to the gym and the pool. “Like leaving jail and having to go back,” is how he described it.

Klopp admitted he’d not helped matters by speaking so glowingly in public. “One of the biggest mistakes I made,” he said, vowing to “keep him in the shadows” thereafter.

By late-April, 367 days on from Roma, he was ready to make his senior return. He played for 17 minutes against Huddersfield, then managed another couple against Wolves on the final day of the league season. In Madrid, he was an unused substitute as the Reds beat Tottenham to win the Champions League. A redemption, of sorts.

The summer brought fresh optimism. For a holiday in Los Angeles he enlisted the help of Alex Parsons, a renowned personal trainer, to ensure he was ready to hit the ground running for pre-season.

Sources have told Goal that Oxlade-Chamberlain’s attitude has been even more important. There has been no impatience after so long out, no obsession over when he will play or where.

He admitted that pre-season, his first proper one under Klopp, had been “a shock to the system”, while the presence of a niggling calf problem proved a nuisance during Liverpool’s US tour, where he took part in every game and every training session.

“I want to show people that I can be part of this team,” he has said. “But I have to keep reminding myself it is a long journey back to where I want to be.”

That journey has stepped up in the last 10 days. He may have struggled on the left wing during Liverpool’s UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea, replaced at half-time by Roberto Firmino, but those 45 minutes represented his longest competitive outing since the injury. Three days later, on the South Coast, he got through 89 – a huge step forward.

Whether he will start again this weekend remains to be seen, though how he would love to, given the visitors to Anfield are Arsenal, the other of his former clubs.

But even if he doesn’t, there will be no sense of panic. After hitting rock bottom, Oxlade-Chamberlain is only heading one way now.

And that can't be anothing other than good news for Liverpool.

https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/setbacks-and-milners-hug-the-inside-story-of-oxlade-chamberlains-/1kn6g03y03whv19hj1bq5wtsh6

Offline tubby

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3035 on: August 22, 2019, 10:20:28 am »
He’d not only torn his anterior cruciate ligament, but also ruptured his lateral collateral ligament too. His medial ligament was damaged, while his lateral hamstring tendon had been torn clean off the bone. It was, Massey told him, about as bad as it gets.

Fucking hell that's amazing work from the medical guys to get him back up and running.
Sit down, shock is better taken with bent knees.

Offline ThePoolMan

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3036 on: August 22, 2019, 11:18:23 am »
He basically had his leg nearly torn off in a way given that almost every ligament was ruptured!

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3037 on: August 22, 2019, 11:47:54 am »
Great to see him back, reading that article I didn't realise his injury was that severe. I hope he starts against Arsenal.
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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3038 on: August 22, 2019, 11:48:15 am »
Fucking hell that's amazing work from the medical guys to get him back up and running.

They've missed out the Posterolateral corner rupture from that as well. There's people I know who are surprised hes back playing.

Offline JackWard33

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Re: Welcome to Liverpool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
« Reply #3039 on: August 22, 2019, 12:44:25 pm »
They've missed out the Posterolateral corner rupture from that as well. There's people I know who are surprised hes back playing.

Not surprised - there were Physios with public profiles who said as much
Given what you’ve seen and know what are the chances of him getting back to his former level.... I know it’s speculation but do you have a view?
Felt like it was impossible but seeing him play it looks like it might be - assuming it won’t be a linear recovery?