Oxlade-Chamberlain: Preseason Has Been a “Shock to the System”

Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

The Liverpool midfielder opens up about his first preseason following his year-long absence due to injury

It has been a really tough year and a couple months for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. After sustaining a serious knee injury against Roma in April of 2018, the Ox is back training in full with Liverpool this preseason. He spoke with the Liverpool Echo about his experience so far.

“Personally it’s been a bit of a struggle,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said, “I forget that I haven’t played for a long time and, if I am honest, the last couple of games haven’t been at the level that I want. A lot of the lads will feel tired in pre-season. But, for me, it’s a bit more of a shock to the system. I just keep trying to remind myself that I have been through the worst of it.

”We have played seven games since we got back. I have got through them all, which is a good thing for me.”

“That is the next stage of the recovery: dealing with it all, giving myself time.

”I have got to remember not to try and get too frustrated. There is a place where I think I should be and where I want to be but there is a reality of the process that I am going through.

”The boys know me well enough to where I am and what I can do. They see where I am at.

”As a professional, you know and respect what you have to do to get back to that level – especially to play for a team like us, with the intensity we have. It doesn’t just come overnight.”

This is actually Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first preseason with Liverpool. He was signed on deadline day of the summer window in 2017.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com