Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has admitted that he felt like he let his teammates down last season.
The £120,000-a-week ace [Spotrac] missed the entire campaign last time around after suffering an injury in the Champions League semi-final against Roma in 2018.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has returned to action at the beginning of the Premier League season and has started two games under Jurgen Klopp for the Reds.
Speaking to BT Sport’s Early Kick-Off, as quoted by the Mirror, the 26-year-old revealed that he was overwhelmed with guilt after not being able to play a part in some of the club’s biggest games in recent years.
“I think, for me, of the back of what the boys achieved last year, can I add that little bit extra?” he said.
“The boys in midfield played a lot of minutes and they all rotated really well. I’ve been added back into that now so it’s on me to try and bring a little something or some relief to the boys when they’ve played a lot.”
“For me as an individual, my goals are to get back in and around the team and get back to doing something I let them down with last year by not being there.”
OPINION
It is natural for a player to feel like they’ve let their team down, but the truth is, they can’t help picking up injuries. Oxlade-Chamberlain would have felt guilt when watching Liverpool lose the Champions League final against Real Madrid, and also miss out on the Premier League run-in, where they lost out on the title by a single point despite only losing once. The 26-year-old needs to put that setback behind him, and use it as motivation to push forward this season and make sure he makes a real difference in this campaign. His athleticism has helped Liverpool in the middle of the park, with him completing 1.8 dribbles per game so far this season, as well as averaging 1.3 shots on goal according to WhoScored. The England man has also made a difference in possession of the ball, completing an average of 29.8 passes per game at an impressive success rate of 91.6%. Klopp will be wanting Oxlade-Chamberlain to continue his form and leave the negative memories behind in by replacing them with positive ones this term.
