From Being Taunted To Receiving A MOTM: How Did The So Called ‘Liverpool flop’ Turn Things Around?

From Being Taunted To Receiving An MOTM – How Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Has Turned Things Around At Liverpool

From being the subject to a lot of internet trolls to winning the Man of The Match award in Liverpool’s recent 4-0 victory over Bournemouth, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has certainly come a long way. Ever since he moved from Arsenal to Liverpool, the player has been criticised endlessly for his lack of impact and was quickly ruled out as a flop show by most of the supporters. It did seem like a harsh turn of events for the 24-year-old as several doubts arose over his abilities and whether or not Jurgen Klopp made a mistake by signing him in the first place.

However, Oxlade-Chamberlain has truly turned things around for himself and has gradually worked on improving his performances. He took quite a bold decision over the summer to leave Arsenal in search of more game time in his preferred position.

The slow start at Anfield would have affected his confidence but the player deserves to be credited for being able to hit the ground running once more. He typically started off by filling in for either Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane and even did a decent job against Everton.

It was in the performance against Bournemouth that he truly made everybody sit back and take notice. He put in an excellent all-round display which started off with him playing wide on the right. Eventually, he came inside to be a part of a middle-three to make room for Salah. He even helped the Reds win back possession several times in the midfield and was especially influential in the final third. In fact, one might even say that he is becoming a tactical advantage for Liverpool.

Since he is versatile, Klopp has a lot of areas he can deploy Ox in. After a lot of criticism, the player finally received a lot of appreciation from the fans and that itself should provide a massive boost to his confidence. He even got close to scoring goal but if Ox continues like this, there can be no limit on what he can achieve at Anfield.

His resurgence actually comes at an opportune moment for Liverpool. If Philippe Coutinho leaves anytime soon, Klopp could quite comfortably manage by playing Salah, Mane and Firmino up front with a midfield trio of Henderson, Lallana and Oxlade-Chamberlain. They have a good collective work-rate and can prove to be beneficial. One might argue that they may not provide enough attacking support but one look at the Reds’ frontline and it is easy to deduce that they already have all the attack force they need.

The road from here on will only get tougher for him as the intensity of challenges increase but based on his most recent display, Oxlade-Chamberlain is likely to make Klopp proud.