Topic: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

[Larse]

Dribbling, shooting and explosiveness actually really good but his passing has been off and its not the first time I had noticed that this year

[Fordy]

Dribbling, shooting and explosiveness actually really good but his passing has been off and its not the first time I had noticed that this year

Which will come together with a run of games.

He was a bright spark yesterday.

[RedForeverTT]

Dribbling, shooting and explosiveness actually really good but his passing has been off and its not the first time I had noticed that this year

His run and pass was not quite Firmino and Salah but he was one of the best players on our side along with Jones. Did most things right and almost scored a wonder goal out of nowhere. It was the first time he has impressed me after a long time.

[gjr1]

I thought he played quite well

[thaddeus]

I thought he was mostly good with some frustrating moments.  His ability to work a bit of space and get a shot off is as good as ever.

I would expect he will play at the weekend so will be interesting to see how he gets on alongside the first team players.

[CalgarianRed]

Totally out of his depth here.  His LFC career has petered out and needs replacing. You could see the difference in quality when Keita went off.

[tubby]

Can still beat a man, but that's about it these days.  Really feel for the guy after all those injuries but he's just not at the standard we need anymore.

[Caligula?]

No point in flogging a dead horse anymore. He'd be decent for someone like West Ham but he's nowhere near good enough for a side that has hopes of being champions.

[HeartAndSoul]

If he hadn’t been subbed on, he would have probably been subbed off in the 60th minute. Apart from that assist today, he totally stunk out the joint and is such a liability defensively. Tbf Jones wasn’t much better. Genuinely thought Morton would have came on over him due to Morton’s defensive side of the game and pushed hendo one up.

[gazzalfc]

Beautiful ball in for Mane. Still the only one not afraid to have a shot outside the box.

The entire midfield stunk out the place today. You could tell that Henderson, Curtis and Ox didn't have their shape at all.

With the midfield as it is we are going to be relying on him more and more

[God's Left Peg]

He's had some fucking horrid injuries and feel for the lad. Whether he can get back to the level he needs to be at is not clear at this point in time. But he's going to be getting plenty of game time so will need a lot of patience and support.

[killer-heels]

He isnt really of the level we need anymore and we should have sold him in the summer.

[farawayred]

He isnt really of the level we need anymore and we should have sold him in the summer.

Like there were buyers...

I do agree that he should move on, and he'd be a better player in a team that will give him the option to play every game. I also think that we are carrying him and Minamino, both of which need to be replaced. But we also had Shaq in the same predicament, and he was the top choice of the three, so he found a new club first. Not many are lined up for Ox or Taki.

[Chakan]

Should definitely be moved on at the first opportunity. He doesn’t offer anything we need in midfield. Understandable injuries have played a huge part but just not good enough now.

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

He doesn't seem to do the very basics right. Hope he starts training hard and starts performing because we really need that, considering our situation with injuries.

[newterp]

He doesn't seem to do the very basics right. Hope he starts training hard and starts performing because we really need that, considering our situation with injuries.

I would expect that he’s training quite hard - simply doesn’t have the same level that he did before serious rounds on injuries.

[6BigCups]

He needed to be sold 2 seasons ago.

[terry_macss_perm]

No point in flogging a dead horse anymore. He'd be decent for someone like West Ham but he's nowhere near good enough for a side that has hopes of being champions.

Unfortunately I fear that the West Ham midfield will run rings round ours next week if we field the same 3 who played the bulk of today’s game.

[LiamG]

Hasn't been the same since that serious injury, which is a massive massive shame! He was quality prior to that

[scatman]

Wasn't like he was shining in the league cup games against the lower level opposition. Was the opposite in fact. A pity

[MonsLibpool]

His physical attributes(pace and upper body strength) added that x-factor to his game and bought him space because defenders are scared of letting a quick player they can't catch go past them. He has always had good but not out-of-this-world technique.

Unfortunately his ACL injury has robbed him of what he relied on so much and he seems to be struggling to adapt.

[mrantarctica]

To be honest, the enthusiasm and effort are there, and at times we saw that explosiveness against Brighton and also Preston. However, its the in game decisions, tactical understanding and end product that could go up a number of notches. The reasons why this might be the case I think are fairly clear. Lets hope that if he's getting more consistent starts for a few games that he can make the most of it.

[MonsLibpool]

To be honest, the enthusiasm and effort are there, and at times we saw that explosiveness against Brighton and also Preston. However, its the in game decisions, tactical understanding and end product that could go up a number of notches. The reasons why this might be the case I think are fairly clear. Lets hope that if he's getting more consistent starts for a few games that he can make the most of it.

He's still quick but not as quick as he used to be. This places more emphasis on his technique.

[drirfan]

He was man of the match against Atletico Madrid last year when they knocked us out at Anfield and that was after his major ACL injury. I suspect he needs a run of games and now he may get the chance. Best to judge him after that, although I am sure Klopp and the coaches know already whether he can do what we require or he needs to be moved on.

[Red-Soldier]

His dynamism was his biggest asset.  A real shame that injury has robbed him and us of it.  He offered something unique, something that we still don't really have.

[Dree]

I think he’s been unfortunate like Keita and Jones have being dropped into difficult situations when trying to get back into form. If he’s playing with Fabinho and Thiago I think he gets a bit more leeway. He was decent in 19-20 when the rest of the team was at its peak. Can’t be easy playing yourself back into form with Henderson not at his best and Jones still being inconsistent. He’s not a star player in that respect, but could still be useful.

[mrantarctica]

I think he’s been unfortunate like Keita and Jones have being dropped into difficult situations when trying to get back into form. If he’s playing with Fabinho and Thiago I think he gets a bit more leeway. He was decent in 19-20 when the rest of the team was at its peak. Can’t be easy playing yourself back into form with Henderson not at his best and Jones still being inconsistent. He’s not a star player in that respect, but could still be useful.

To be fair, this is true of a number of fringe players who don't play all that often because JK doesn't rotate a great deal. When we don't have many injuries, the likes of Ox, Curtis, Taki, Origi, Gomez and Kostas will all end up in that same boat of having general rustiness because they don't play often enough (even though there's plenty of games to be played)

That being said, opportunities can and do arise and it's up to Ox now to show that he can quickly recapture some form and give the manager a very tough decision on whether to drop him when the others return.

[Smudge]

Garbage. Get rid.

[CraigDS]

Garbage. Get rid.

I’m sure the mods will be along shortly to oblige.

[mrantarctica]

I’m sure the mods will be along shortly to oblige.

The irony being that the poster's name is "Smudge" 

[Gerry Attrick]

We've been loyal to him and I suspect that's because we've nice people running proceedings but he's just not a good enough footballer to still merit being here for my money. You could count the decent games he's had in about 3 years on 1 hand. Nobody can be blamed for being injured, but I'm very surprised we didn't look to get some money for him in the summer. Maybe he is still good and he just needs games to show it but he won't get enough of them because he doesn't show enough when he does get them. Catch 22 and we could probably get more value for his kind of wages.

[Chris~]

Nobody can be blamed for being injured, but I'm very surprised we didn't look to get some money for him in the summer.

Maybe we did? The problem.with players coming off bad injuries is what sort of market is there for them? Especially when clubs have money let alone this summer where there wasn't going to be as much spending from some.

[El Lobo]

Change the names and this is literally the Adam Lallana or Daniel Sturridge thread

Who says we didn't look to get some money for him in the summer? Whats to say we weren't quite open to selling him if we got an offer, but as with Origi we just didnt? Its always fascinating to see people confidently talking about how transfer activity, I'm guessing purely because they didn't see something on twitter saying West Ham had made an offer.

[Dree]

To be fair, this is true of a number of fringe players who don't play all that often because JK doesn't rotate a great deal. When we don't have many injuries, the likes of Ox, Curtis, Taki, Origi, Gomez and Kostas will all end up in that same boat of having general rustiness because they don't play often enough (even though there's plenty of games to be played)

That being said, opportunities can and do arise and it's up to Ox now to show that he can quickly recapture some form and give the manager a very tough decision on whether to drop him when the others return.

Yeah it depends whether we see him as a very expensive fringe player or someone who should be contributing much more (who should have been sold by now probably).

Still got a cracking assist.

[jepovic]

Maybe we did? The problem.with players coming off bad injuries is what sort of market is there for them? Especially when clubs have money let alone this summer where there wasn't going to be as much spending from some.

High salary, bad injury record, far from brilliant performance. Yeah, its a tough sell

[Fiasco]

I feel for him, because if he could get back to a proper level then he'd be a very valuable tool for us. I just think several different factors make it best for all parties to move on. I like him a lot, a really genuine lad who works his bollocks off but it just isn't happening right now.

[VVM]

Maybe his future isn't in central midfield, wasn't there talks of him training in the summer to cover Bobby in the false 9 role?

[jonnypb]

I feel for him, because if he could get back to a proper level then he'd be a very valuable tool for us. I just think several different factors make it best for all parties to move on. I like him a lot, a really genuine lad who works his bollocks off but it just isn't happening right now.

I know, before his knee injury he was really starting to be a good option for us.  Feel for the lad, but it looks more likely that the only game time he'll get is while we've got injuries within midfield.

[bornandbRED]

He was no worse than the other two on the weekend.

[newterp]

He was no worse than the other two on the weekend.

He was worse than Curtis Jones that’s for sure. Even if he had an assist.