Jurgen Klopp praised Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but pointed out a moment that summed his Liverpool career

In the player tribute statement, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp praised the quality of the outgoing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but also shared a moment that summed up his career at Anfield.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was signed by Liverpool from Arsenal in the summer of 2017. After a slow start, he became a key midfielder of the team in January 2018. The two home games against Manchester City in the league and the Champions League were when the Englishman was at his best. His goals in those games were phenomenal too.

Then, he picked up a nasty injury in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against AS Roma in 2018 that kept him out for long. Since then, although the midfielder has done well in patches, he could not recreate his 2017/18 form.

Here’s what Klopp said about Oxlade-Chamberlain, his qualities and that one regret (h/t Liverpool website):

“Ox is a super guy, an absolutely super guy. Now with Ox it’s a bigger shame, how it sometimes is with players – he had here super times and now in the end I’m pretty sure he is not 100 per cent happy and I can understand that, definitely.

“But the one moment that comes in my mind, it describes a little bit the time here but as well how good he is, is the situation in the Roma semi-final, the home game when he got injured. In that moment I had no idea how to replace him, honestly – Ox was that good.”

As a Klopp number eight, the 29-year-old had everything – be it a turn of pace on the ball, a directness in running, shooting and assisting goals and incessant running throughout games.

It was natural that once he came back from that bad knee injury, the confidence was shot. There was a period in the 2019/20 season where he looked close to his best, but still short of what we saw in 2018.

As much as Liverpool fans must be frustrated by his career at Anfield, there is a sense of justification behind why the player wasn’t good once he got that physical setback.

He is only 29 and can still do a great job for any club around England or Europe. We hope that he is picked up by someone in the summer window. A rejuvenated Ox can do wonders for the next team he will play for.

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It is safe to say that despite the regrets here, Liverpool fans will wish nothing but the best for him wherever he goes.