Haven’t been good enough but getting back to my best, claims Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
With another England goal to his name, Liverpool star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has admitted that he’s slowly getting back to his best for both club and country. The 26-year-old has struggled with injuries over the last few years but has managed to make fourteen appearances for the Reds this season.
The 26-year-old was expected to make a big impact at the 2018 World Cup but a bad knee injury kept him out of the squad for both Liverpool and England. His recovery took a long time with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain only making a return to football towards the end of last season. However, this season has seen the former Arsenal man find his way back into form and it has seen him make fourteen appearances this season for the Reds.
But it’s his recent form that saw him called up by Gareth Southgate with Chamberlain netting four goals in his last four starts for the Reds and he vindicated that with his first England goal since 2017. Yet despite the goal and rather impressive performance for the Three Lions, the 26-year-old went on to admit that he still has to hit his best for the club. He also added that he has been poor over the last few months and he's worked hard to change that.
“I’ve made steps forward for sure with where I was before. I’ve got that feeling back of attacking and getting into areas and a few goals help that and help my confidence and for others to say I have found my form,” said Oxlade-Chamberlain reports Goal.
"But at the same time there are some games in there – the Arsenal game I had a poor game to be fair; I scored a good goal but I wasn’t good enough – and there are games where I wanted my all-round game to be better. But I was starting to get into the positions I was before I was injured and finding a bit more joy in those areas and getting that feeling back.”
This does give Gareth Southgate a selection headache with the likes of Mason Mount, James Maddison, Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson and Declan Rice all making a mark. But Oxlade-Chamberlain’s return from injury and the 26-year-old’s rich vein of form has many fans hoping that the Liverpool man finds his way back into the team. But the midfielder went on to admit that the new dynamic in the team will only serve to help him improve even more.
“I have been around for a while and had a lot of injuries that have kept me out of big games and tournaments. I was coming into form when we played Holland and Italy in the March just before I got injured and I think I brought that form into England. But since the injury I am trying to pick up where I left off. In that time there have been a lot of other boys who have come through.
"There are different players and new dynamics so it is nice to slot back in and push myself to keep improving and try to find something different to help this team move forward,” Oxlade-Chamberlain concluded.