Klopp: Arsenal’s ‘unbelievable’ mismanagement of Ox

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Jurgen Klopp thinks Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is going to become a much better player at Liverpool than he ever was at Arsenal.

This is because at his new club, the England international will be allowed to freely become involved in ‘goalscoring situations,’ which he was denied at the Emirates.

The boss was talking to journalists at a press-conference yesterday, ahead of Friday’s crunch clash between Oxlade-Chamberlain’s former and current sides.

“I think the biggest improvement and potential is being involved in goalscoring situations. It is unbelievable that he was not asked for this too much in the past,” Klopp said, cited in the Echo.

“If you watch Arsenal in the past the past their two decisive players were Ozil and Sanchez. They are involved in a lot of moments, and decisive passes. Ozil or Sanchez. And then you are not much involved.

“Here we put it more on his (Oxlade-Chamberlain’s) shoulders, much more on his shoulders. If he is on the pitch he needs to be involved in these situations.

“At the moment I am fine. It’s all good. There is a lot of space for improvement as well. It’s all good.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s start to life on Merseyside was relatively slow, with Klopp waiting some time to give him his first Premier League start, but in recent weeks he seems to have really come into his own.

His performance against Bournemouth was definitely his best since the deadline day transfer. It featured dynamic running, ball recoveries, long range passing and shooting.

These are traits Ox has in abundance, maximised by his speed and strength.

We’re not sure whether we’ll see him from the outset against his old club tomorrow, though.

Klopp has Coutinho, Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino in his attacking positions, meaning there’s only two other spots in the front-six to fill.

We have a sneaky feeling though that one of the Fab Four will make way for the 24-year-old.

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