I am still struggling get my head around what haunts me about my Liverpool career

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain admits he continues to struggle to deal with the "misconception" he was injury-prone during his time at Liverpool.

Oxlade-Chamberlain spent six years at Anfield, having signed from Arsenal for £35million and won a succession of major honours under Jurgen Klopp.

However, a series of serious injuries limited him to just 146 appearances in that time, most notably the ACL damage he suffered during the Champions League semi-final first leg home win over Roma in April 2018.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 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 Premier League title win the following season and starting the UEFA Super Cup win over Chelsea and the FIFA Club World Cup triumph against Flamengo.

However, the 32-year-old started only 24 games during his last three years at Liverpool and is presently without a club, having become a free agent in the summer after two injury-affected years in Turkey with Besiktas.

But the former England international remains perplexed by his reputation of being susceptible to fitness problems.

Oxlade-Chamberlain

“The whole injury misconception thing has haunted me for years,"

"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.

"I always felt like whenever I got injured, it was always a bad one. I didn’t get many hamstring injuries or anything like that – it was always a knee (injury) that kept me out for a spell of time.

“They 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.

“The whole injury-prone thing, I’ve 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. No

“My injuries were always contact – 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’re not an injury-prone player. When you do a big knee (injury) other things start happening, and you have to adapt.”

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.

And when asked on the latest Fozcast podcast with Ben Fosterabout youngsters breaking into the first team, he pointed to former Liverpool team-mate Curtis Jones as an example of how it can be done.

Oxlade-Chamberlain.

“A big thing for young players when they break into the first team, which is quite daunting, is that your character gets tested early,"

“Having that respect for your older team-mates to listen to, but also having that arrogance and confidence, is crucial.

“The 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 – he was confident, the leader of the group.

"When he came into the first team, we had players like Jordan Henderson and James Milner, but he (Curtis) still had that about him. When we trained, he still had that confidence to try a stepover.

“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."

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