Jamie Carragher highlighted midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain while explaining why Liverpool are perhaps perceived as being slightly different this season.
The Sky Sports pundit shared that the currently injured 25-year-old brought great drive and pace to the midfield when trying to pinpoint why the Reds weren’t playing the same way they were in their 2017/18 campaign.
Carragher suggested that the Reds were playing under Jurgen Klopp in a way that was similar to how the team looked under previous managers Rafa Benitez and Gerard Houllier, before admitting that the current team could finally rely on their defence to get them three points.
“It’s interesting because the narrative all season has been about when Liverpool are going to start playing like last season,” said Carragher on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football (November 26th, 20:15).
“However, it may get to the stage where we ask: are Liverpool maybe slightly different this season?
“Don’t forget there’s no Philippe Coutinho. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain brought great drive and pace from midfield. The front three were away at the World Cup also.
“You’ve now got Virgil van Dijk and a goalkeeper. Is it a little bit more like the Liverpool teams I played in?
“Last season I said this team plays football that our teams never played. But it’s actually now going back a little bit to maybe Benitez and Houllier’s sort of time.
“They probably do play a little bit more football than we did but they can actually rely on the defence to win them a game.”
OPINION
Oxlade-Chamberlain was fantastic at points last season and it’s no surprise Carragher highlighted the loss of him to injury as a reason why the Reds aren’t playing the same level of attacking football that had Anfield roaring in the 2017/18 campaign. However while the Reds are leaving fans speechless over the amount of goals they are scoring, it’s worth noting that Klopp’s side are continuing to get points on the board. At the end of the day if the Reds win the Premier League title at the end of the season but score less goals than in their 17/18 campaign, would anyone actually care? Given that Carragher also briefly mentioned Philippe Coutinho, who left to join Barcelona in January, it seems the Sky pundit believes an attack-minded midfielder is needed in Klopp’s current first team. This is an understandable view as the Reds have lacked a spark at times but then again perhaps Xherdan Shaqiri could be the driving force in his side’s midfield if he keeps playing as he has looked handful in games this season.
