Oxlade-Chamberlain learning the Liverpool instinct
The biggest change for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Liverpool has been the subtle differences in the demands made of his team by Jürgen Klopp.
Since joining the club from Arsenal on transfer deadline day in August, the England international’s influence has steadily grown and 25 appearances have quickly been accumulated.
With the Reds fighting for the best position possible in the Premier League, plus knockout fixtures in the FA Cup and Champions League ahead too, consistency is of paramount importance.
So too is a synchronised approach – and Oxlade-Chamberlain feels he has successfully made the transition from his previous responsibilities to the new ones with Liverpool.
“The biggest thing I’ve had to learn is how this manager likes to stop situations at source, and how he likes to attack is slightly different to my manager before,” said the No.21.
“I was in certain habits and certain things became second nature to me and in football it is all about instinct. You train and train a certain thing so when you are in that situation you don’t think about it.
“It just might be a simple trigger when something happens and the defence passes to that player and the ball is slightly behind him. That is your cue to go and press. At your previous club you might not even look into that.
“I have about 100 different things but it is all those adding up. When a team is in sync to do what a manager wants and you have one player who has come in and is doing it slightly different it breaks the whole chain and it doesn’t work for everyone.
“We press high and if one person is not doing it right – even if it is small – it makes everyone’s work a waste of time. Just little things like that I had to learn. It can take some time.”
Liverpool meet Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday, the first fixture since Philippe Coutinho’s departure to FC Barcelona was confirmed.
But the Brazilian’s absence can be neither distraction nor excuse according to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who sees plenty of attacking firepower in the rest of the Reds squad.
“I’ve got every respect for Phil and his decisions, I wish him all the best but he is not in my thoughts right now. He can’t affect the score versus Manchester City,” said the midfielder.
“I’m more concerned about what I can do, what Mo [Salah] can do, what Sadio [Mane] can do, what whoever is playing will do because we are the boys now that will get the right result for the club.
“I haven’t really even thought about Phil leaving. You pay it attention and you realise it happens but you can’t start thinking, ‘what are we going to do now that Phil is not here?’ It can’t be that at all. It’s business as usual.
“When Phil wasn’t playing in the team for some games we still played great football and we still have amazing players who can score goals – the likes of Mo, Sadio, Roberto [Firmino], everyone else.
“We have goals and creativity all over the team. Obviously Phil added to that, there is no doubt. The fact is he has gone now and we have to think, ‘what have we got that is going to get the job done?’”