Alan McInally has stated that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might not be at Liverpool if it wasn’t for Jurgen Klopp, as he told Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports.
The Sky pundit added that Klopp has ‘persisted’ with the injury-hit player and he now has a ‘big part’ to play for Liverpool this season.
Liverpool aren’t even halfway through the season, yet the Ox has managed more minutes (514) this term than he did during the entirety of the last campaign (244).
Oxlade-Chamberlain has started back-to-back games for Liverpool, including during the 3-1 win against Newcastle last time out and he will be hoping it’s three on the bounce this Sunday.
Tottenham haven’t played a competitive game in two weeks because of COVID issues at the club and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they are a little rusty against Klopp’s free-flowing side.
Ex-Aston Villa and Bayern Munich man, McInally, feels that Oxlade-Chamberlain now has a ‘big’ role to play for his team going forward.
“I am going to mention Klopp,” said McInally. “If Klopp’s not there, I don’t know if Oxlade ends up somewhere else, genuinely.
“I think he has persisted with him. He has had an injury problem. But I think you have to mention Klopp big time.
“By keeping him. Keeping the faith in him and seeing when he was in training. What he has etc… He is just on the outskirts of England’s squad.
“The fact that he is on the pitch for Liverpool shows that his manager thinks more of him than a lot of people are thinking ‘oh, where is he going?’ I think he has a big part to play for Liverpool this season.”
Liverpool have had a number of players, including someone like Naby Keita, that have had an indifferent time on Merseyside since their arrivals.
But despite all those troubles, Klopp has continued to stick with them and allowed them to thrive when on the pitch and remained patient when they were off it.
When Gini Wijnaldum left Liverpool in the summer, some felt that the club needed to dip into the market to replace the Dutchman.
But Klopp clearly felt that he had enough in the locker, as Thiago Alcantara, Keita, Harvey Elliott and Oxlade-Chamberlain have thrived this season since his departure.
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