{"id":553426,"date":"2025-11-06T18:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/553426\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T18:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T18:25:21","slug":"i-am-still-struggling-get-my-head-around-what-haunts-me-about-my-liverpool-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/553426\/","title":{"rendered":"I am still struggling get my head around what haunts me about my Liverpool career"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has opened up on the reputation he gained that suggested he was injury-prone during his time at Liverpool<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Screenshot-2025-11-06-171449.jpg\" alt=\"Former Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Former Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain(Image: Fozcast &#8211; The Ben Foster Podcast)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain admits he continues to struggle to deal with the &#8220;misconception&#8221; he was injury-prone during his time at Liverpool. Oxlade-Chamberlain spent six years at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/anfield\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Anfield<\/a>, having signed from Arsenal for \u00a335million and won a succession of major honours under <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/jurgen-klopp\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Jurgen Klopp<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">However, a series of serious injuries limited him to just 146 appearances in that time, most notably the ACL damage he suffered during the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/uefa-champions-league\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Champions League<\/a> semi-final first leg home win over Roma in April 2018.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/alex-oxlade-chamberlain\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Oxlade-Chamberlain<\/a> was out for a year but returned in time to make the bench for the Champions League final win over Tottenham Hotspur in June 2019 before featuring regularly in the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/barclays-premier-league\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier League<\/a> title win the following season and starting the UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea and the FIFA Club World Cup triumph against Flamengo.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/arne-slot-given-game-away-32822167\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"32822167\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arne Slot has given game away ahead of Man City after bizarre Liverpool\u00a0calls<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/liverpool-players-face-uncertain-future-32826212\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"32826212\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool players face uncertain future after John Heitinga sacked as Ajax boss<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">However, the 32-year-old started only 24 games during his last three years at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/liverpool-fc\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a> and is presently without a club, having become a free agent in the summer after two injury-affected years in Turkey with Besiktas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">But the former England international remains perplexed by his reputation of being susceptible to fitness problems.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">\u201cThe whole injury misconception thing has haunted me for years,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When I did my ACL at Liverpool, that was in 2018. I can remember going into interviews in 2021, and people still asking me about my ACL.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">&#8220;I always felt like whenever I got injured, it was always a bad one. I didn\u2019t get many hamstring injuries or anything like that \u2013 it was always a knee (injury) that kept me out for a spell of time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">\u201cThey always seem to happen when I was flying. At that point (in 2018), I was really doing well, so when I got the injury, it was a bigger story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">\u201cThe whole injury-prone thing, I\u2019ve always struggled to get my head around that, because injury-prone in my head was lads that are unfortunate and always picking up hamstring and then calf injuries, and their body failing them in that way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">&#8220;My injuries were always contact \u2013 I got smashed, and I got injured, and it always seemed to be them that kept me out for a long spell. I come back, and I get to that level, which I think shows you\u2019re not an injury-prone player. When you do a big knee (injury) other things start happening, and you have to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">Oxlade-Chamberlain was only 16 when he made his debut for Southampton and moved to Arsenal less than 18 months later, and made his England senior debut aged just 18.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gv1_FFWl_IY\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">And when asked on the latest Fozcast podcast with Ben Foster<\/a> about youngsters breaking into the first team, he pointed to former Liverpool team-mate Curtis Jones as an example of how it can be done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">&#8220;A big thing for young players when they break into the first team, which is quite daunting, is that your character gets tested early,&#8221; said Oxlade-Chamberlain. &#8220;Having that respect for your older team-mates to listen to, but also having that arrogance and confidence, is crucial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">\u201cThe last example I can remember that did it well was Curtis Jones. When he first came into the Liverpool team, we all knew what Curt was like with the young boys \u2013 he was confident, the leader of the group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">&#8220;When he came into the first team, we had players like <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/jordan-henderson\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Jordan Henderson<\/a> and <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/james-milner\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">James Milner<\/a>, but he (Curtis) still had that about him. When we trained, he still had that confidence to try a stepover.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"liverpoolecho\">&#8220;When the older boys did some old-school treatment on him, he reacted well to it, listened, stopped and reflected. That goes a long way with older players, and people want to come in and help you, and look after you, and make you shine.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has opened up on the reputation he gained that suggested he was injury-prone during his time&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[71298,748,393,4884,179,763,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-553426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-alex-oxlade-chamberlain","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-fc","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115504161360159268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}