Oxlade-Chamberlain reveals Boxing Day unhappiness
In a candid post-match interview, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain revealed why the 5-0 win over Swansea City and his first goal at Anfield did not counterbalance frustration with his overall personal performance.
The England international put the seal on a handsome victory for Jürgen Klopp’s side on Boxing Day with a neatly-taken prodded finish at the Kop end after earlier strikes by Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino (two) and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Oxlade-Chamberlain nevertheless walked off the pitch with mixed emotions – delight for the team as a collective but with a somewhat stern critique of his own contributions.
“We won, we got the three points. Personally, I was a bit disappointed with myself,” the summer signing from Arsenal told Sky Sports.
“I’m happy I managed to get the goal in the end; I tried to work hard throughout the 90 minutes. When the chance came at the end, I was happy to put that away and it made it a bit better.
“Ultimately, the boys did well again. In the first half we did OK, we knew we had to step it up in the second half. We did that. Going forward, we showed what we can do again.
“I just want more out of myself and there were a few moments when I could have done better with my end product.”
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Asked to explain his feelings further, Oxlade-Chamberlain continued: “We train every day and when you get into certain situations, you work hard to get into those positions.
“In this league they don’t come too often and when you get into those areas you want to do better. There were a few times I could have done better. Just overall, it could have been better.
“But 5-0 for the boys – I’m really happy with that. I just want to keep pushing on and keep pushing myself to do better, that’s why I’m not too happy.”
The No.21’s goal was his third in Liverpool colours but first at Anfield.
And, after the manager recently noted that Oxlade-Chamberlain needs to find a more acute balance between midfield and attack, the player himself acknowledged the requirement for his tally to rise.
“It’s important for me,” he said.
“If it helps the team to win, we need that. It wasn’t so crucial for the team as we had a good lead, but for myself I need to keep doing that and keep getting goalscoring opportunities and putting them away.
“There were some great goals – what a goal Trent’s was. He worked really hard to create that opportunity and I think my goal was quite similar, in the way it was rebounding around and I managed to finish it at the end.
“There was good quality all round and we defended well. It’s a positive result off the back of the disappointing draw in the last game and we can build from it.”