ReactionAlex Oxlade-Chamberlain on new role, Villa victory and Robbo's record

The No.15 started the 3-1 win at Villa Park on the left of the Reds’ front three, with Darwin Nunez central and Mohamed Salah in his customary spot on the right.

And afterwards, he detailed the pre-game instructions he received from Jürgen Klopp and his coaching team.

“I think I did OK,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told Liverpoolfc.com. “I just tried to make sure I did the defensive job for the team. Obviously playing out on the left, it’s a little bit new and we are doing it slightly different.

“I think when Bobby plays up front he’s the one who comes deep, but with Darwin and Mo they stretch it and I have to be the one that sort of drops in deep, deeper from the front line, then has to get up and support as well, so I’m learning that. I feel like in the first half I did alright.

“I would have liked to have been able to impact the game a little bit more at times but in that period [in the] first 10 minutes of the second half it was a bit difficult to get a grip on the press.

“We were countering so it became a little bit end to end and we lost a little bit of a grip of the game. For us boys up front at that point we were doing a lot of running forward and it wasn’t coming off and we were running back and it got a bit frantic.

“So, in the end I’d say [his performance was] decent, good enough at the start, and could have been better.”

Read the rest of our post-match interview with Oxlade-Chamberlain below.

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On the importance of the win…

I think first half we did well, we did well enough and I think overall we dominated. There were a few moments when they showed that they can be dangerous but I think overall in the first half we pretty much controlled the game and obviously [scoring] two goals was important. Then we came in at half-time with a good lead, [it was] a bit disappointing the way maybe we came out in the second half. We knew that they were going to be coming out really hungry and putting the pressure on us and they did exactly that, and maybe we didn’t react to that well enough. I think the game got a bit frantic and we lost a little bit of the control of the game, they obviously get the goal and then it’s sort of, ‘Make sure you get through that period of momentum’ and we did that so that was good. Then obviously Stefan comes on and gets the third and that sort of kills the game, and then you look at the game a bit differently and it seems a little bit maybe more comfortable than it was, especially for the first 15 minutes of that second half.

On the team showing resilience to resist Villa’s pressure and claim the three points…

Thinking back to the start of the season or the way the first half of the season has gone, we haven’t started well enough and then we’ve sort of given ourselves a lot to do. I think today it was the opposite: we started really well, with a lot of intensity, pressed well, we had a game plan and we stuck to that, with a few moments of lapses of concentration where we gave them a few chances early on, but overall it was really good. But there will be times - there are times in every single game, especially in the Premier League - when you come under pressure; I think it’s just a little bit disappointing when it happens straight after half-time because maybe you can look at it and think the concentration [has lapsed] with the break and we’ve come out and not quite been at it enough. So that’s something for us to obviously look at and work on.

But overall, I think with the amount of crosses they were putting into the box, the pressure they were putting us under in the first 10 or 15 minutes [of the second half], we did well to oversee and only keep them to one goal in the end. When that goal goes in, it becomes that little bit more difficult so it was good that we only conceded that one and then get control of the game again. Darwin gives us a big outlet on the counter and Stefan, like I said earlier, did really well to come on and score that goal. Then it makes it a little bit easier for us at that point, but overall I think it was one we needed to just come and grind it out and make sure we won. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. They have obviously got the new manager in and he drills the teams that he has really well. We knew they were going to be organised and difficult, so at the end of the day three points away is perfect.

On Andy Robertson setting a new record for the most Premier League assists by a defender...

He’s got a knack of it. I think his numbers talk. He’s been brilliant. Obviously he’s shown for years the crosses he can put into the box but I think it’s his energy. In the first half, that’s what we worked on: I could come inside a lot more and make it difficult for them to have to stay with Robbo, he was getting a lot of joy. I can remember Ali from a goalkick put one in behind early on and it’s that energy he has, he gets himself into those positions to then put crosses in and with Mo and Darwin flying into the box that’s what makes him get all these assists. But yeah, he’s obviously been brilliant for years.

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