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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has candidly expressed his disappointment over the limited playing time he experienced at Liverpool, including the heartache of being left out of Jürgen Klopp's squad on a cup final day.
Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is currently without a club following the termination of his contract with Besiktas, parted ways with the Reds when his contract ended in the summer of 2023. After his $47 million move from Arsenal in the summer of 2017, the midfielder clocked up 146 appearances during his six-year stint at Anfield, netting 18 goals and providing 13 assists.
Moreover, he was part of the team that clinched the Premier League, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, European Super Cup, and League Cup during his tenure at Anfield. The 32-year-old battled back from an ACL injury sustained in the Champions League semi-final in April 2018 to play a crucial role in Liverpool's 2019/20 Premier League title-winning season.
However, he was plagued by lengthy injury spells during both the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons, and was relegated to a minor role in 2021/22. Despite being an unused substitute for the Reds' League Cup final victory over Chelsea in 2022, he was subsequently omitted from the matchday squad entirely for their FA Cup final triumph over the same team.
Oxlade-Chamberlain confessed that Klopp's decision caught him off guard, as he shared his sorrow at missing out on several key events during his time at Anfield. "When I got injured (in 2018), there was that thing of I want to win but there was always that thing of, 'If we win and I'm not in the squad, it will hurt,'" he confessed on Ben Foster's Fozcast.
"We lost the first (Champions League) final when I was injured — I was out for a year. I lost out on the semi-final and the final so when I was on the pitch with the crutches, I was like, 'Oh no, am I allowed to claim this [winners medal]? Does this still count? Because I'm not in the squad for the final and I'm injured.'
"When we got to the Champions League final again, I was back and I was in the squad. For me, I was like, 'I'm counting this.' I've been training, I've made a couple of appearances since coming back from injury, and I've got to claim this. This is it. But there is always that little thing of, 'I wish I could have played.'
"I have the same thought with a few of the things I've won. The FA Cup at Liverpool, I got dropped out of the squad on the day of the game – I was gutted and that one hurt. We went on and won. The manager made the decision and that season I wasn't necessarily playing all the games in the Premier League, or starting, so the FA Cup was my chance.
"I played every round of that FA Cup, then I wasn't even on the bench, and I wasn't expecting that. I wasn't ready to digest that. At the same time you look back and think, 'I played in all of them, started all of them, and it's a team game. You're part of a team, but it is what it is. There is a part of you that wants to play in every final."
The midfielder reckons he was at the peak of his powers before sustaining a devastating ACL injury against Roma in the Champions League semi-finals. Whilst he battled back to feature for Liverpool once more, he feels he was never truly given the opportunity to reclaim his position following his comeback.
"I got injured in the semi-final of the Champions League, in the first leg against Roma," he said. "I was a big part of the push towards the back end of that season — it was the best I played. From December to when I got injured in March/April, that was the best I had ever been playing. Everything was just automatic, I wasn't thinking about anything – the connection I had with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Mo [Salah] on my side, was unbelievable.
"When I did my ACL, I was out for a year with that. When I came back, I didn't go straight back into the team. I spent six months on the periphery, coming off the bench here and there, but I didn't play much.
"At that point [in people's minds], it's almost like your injury is extended. I look at Virg [Virgil van Dijk] when he did his, and it was a horrendous injury as well. He's an amazing player and an amazing athlete, and he could physically cope with it. As soon as he was fit, he played, and it was almost like, injury squashed.
"In my position, there's eight midfielders, and we're all battling for places. If you have six months out, good luck getting your place back.
"You come back and you're ready to play - I always felt I didn't get put back in quickly enough to squash the injury concerns. Even though I'm feeling good and fine, people want to see you string 20 games together before they think your injury is done."
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