Matt Jarvis raved about Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ahead of the Reds facing Arsenal in the EFL Cup.
The Sky Sports pundit described the England international as a fantastic talent and was confident he could be a creative spark for Jurgen Klopp’s side if needs be.
“He is a fantastic talent, he will add that creative spark,” said Jarvis on Football Centre (Sky Sports News, 11:50am, Wednesday, October 30th).
“He’s come back from his injury, he has scored goals when he has played, he is a very talented footballer.”
Sky Sports presenter Jo Wilson then asked Jarvis whether Oxlade-Chamberlain was a frustrated player, and Jarvis responded by claiming the midfielder was frustrated due to being a world class player not being utilised.
“Yes he will want to play and he knows he can play at that level and play very well,” added the former Premier League winger.
“So he’d hope to be playing more game time, it’s the same with Lallana and Naby Keita, these players are world class players so they want to be playing.”
OPINION
Jarvis makes two questionable claims in a short of space of time. Firstly, Oxlade-Chamberlain likely isn’t frustrated, well not as much as some of his teammates, as he knows that Klopp is looking out for him. The 26-year-old had a very serious knee injury in his 2017/18 campaign which overlapped into the 2018/19 season as it caused him to be stuck on the sidelines for 293 days, as per Transfermarkt, so he can’t cope with playing every minute of Liverpool’s fixtures just yet. Therefore he is likely aware that his limited minutes are due to the club being careful rather than a reflection of his ability, which will cause him not to be frustrated as he knows his time will come. The second questionable claim Jarvis makes is that he calls Oxlade-Chamberlain world class. Now there’s no denying the attacking midfielder is an elite player, but world class seems like a tag he still needs to earn. The 26-year-old has done well in his outings this season as he has not only scored two goals but has looked lively by averaging 1.4 shots-per game (Source: WhoScored), but to be considered world class…his numbers should be higher surely?
