Oxlade-Chamberlain: I want to be able to bring goals to the team
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is determined to make goalscoring a habit after clinically dispatching a volley in Liverpool's friendly against Hertha BSC on Thursday night.
The No.15 thrashed in an 88th-minute strike – the seventh of the evening in Innsbruck – as the Reds were beaten 4-3 by the Bundesliga side in their latest pre-season outing.
The entertaining contest also saw the much-anticipated returns of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, who were simultaneously introduced for the final 20 minutes having been sidelined since last year.
Post-match, Oxlade-Chamberlain spoke to Liverpoolfc.com about his new attacking position this summer, the lessons to take from losing to Hertha and his appreciation of the special moment for Van Dijk and Gomez.
Read the interview below…
On his assessment of the game…
Good and bad. I think in spells we controlled the game well and played some nice football, but obviously at times when it mattered we made some mistakes and weren’t quite good enough. They’re a good team and they punished us. There’s some good stuff to take – we’re still building up – but we need to be more consistent during the games and more resilient as we get closer to the season, I think that’s the main thing.
On his form and fitness in pre-season so far…
I feel good, I feel sharp. Obviously the difference between training and the games is the length of time and the periods we play for, and the heat – you need to get used to that. That’s something I need to keep building on, feeling like when I get the ball after 30 or 40 minutes into the game I can still get the ball and do my sort of explosive runs. That’s all to come still a bit more. But I feel good. Obviously it’s a new little role up there, which I quite enjoy; it’s similar in ways to how the more advanced midfielder plays in the team. A little bit different defensively, which I’m trying to get used to as well because I think Bobby does it better than anyone in world football. It’s not easy to follow him doing that. In possession it’s nice, I can pick up nice positions and get on the ball, so I’m enjoying it. If I do play more often in that position, I think my main thing is to contribute with goals because I feel like we create a lot in and around that area and even when I play in midfield in that position – a bit more advanced – I feel like I can score goals. That’s something I definitely want to be able to bring to the team if I play there. So on that front it’s good. Like I said, I’m still building up and so are we all. We need to keep improving because we’ve definitely got more work to do and more to come.
On the return of Van Dijk and Gomez after long-term injuries…
It was a nice moment to see them come on – it took my mind off the fact it was red hot and I was blowing! Nice seeing them come on and clapping them on. I’m absolutely delighted for them. Obviously I know full well what they’ve been through – to an extent, everyone’s journey is a bit different – but I know how much hard work they’ve put in and they’ve been a little tag team helping each other through. So to see them come back at the same time, I’m absolutely delighted. They’ve been really good in training, looked really sharp. Obviously now it’s just the fitness and the durability they’ll build on. It’s a massive, massive asset for us to have them back on the pitch and in and around the team as well because they are both characters that are massive for the team. I was delighted for them.
On having fans back inside stadiums…
It was nice, it was really nice. The support here tonight was brilliant, it was a little reminder as to what we’ve missed. We obviously got a little glimpse at Anfield last game of the season with the fans back. Seeing these guys here again gets you excited for what’s to come. You never take it for granted but you can forget how much the fans can help you during a game when things are hard. These guys did that for us today. It makes me especially excited to see everyone back at Anfield, for sure.
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