Irony of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's Liverpool struggles not lost on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

James Olley22 December 2017

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's £40million summer move from Arsenal to Liverpool was partly motivated by a concern over a lack of game-time and so the irony of what’s happened in the intervening four months was not lost on Arsene Wenger.

“Is he sure of a place there?,” Wenger said. “That’s the answer. You are sure nowhere. In a big club, you have big competition for every single place. That’s absolutely normal.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain has started just seven games in all competitions since his deadline day switch to Merseyside and has no guarantees he will face his former club when Liverpool travel to Arsenal on Friday night.

The 24-year-old had one year left on his contract at Emirates Stadium and declined the offer of an extension to revive a career whose prime characteristic remains unfulfilled potential.

“Look, he had one year to go,” said Wenger. “At the start of the season we had four players with one year to go [Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere].

“I wanted him to extend his contract, yes. He decided to go. We respect that but at the end of the day, I decided to sell him.”

Wenger dismissed the notion that Oxlade-Chamberlain had been effectively sacrificed to retain Sanchez and Ozil.

“Not really, no,” he said. “But I believe that he made this decision and we had to find a compromise to get the best possible transfer from it. That’s part of it. I personally think he will be an important player for England and that he will continue to develop.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s chequered start to life at Anfield, however, is difficult to ignore especially given he resisted Chelsea’s overtures for a move he believed would best further his ambitions.

Wenger insists the struggle for recognition would exist regardless of reputation. “What do you want – to be a big player and not fight? What do you want on top of that, sitting in a rocking chair saying ‘I’m a big player – I don’t need to fight’? It does not work like that. Every player can do that and he does it so overall I am convinced it is part of being a top player.”

Wenger is more concerned about the finishing prowess of those who stayed, not least with the disparity against Manchester United between having 33 shots, 75 per cent possession and losing 3-1 at the beginning of the month still fresh in his mind.

Arsenal have scored 31 League goals this season – only Burnley have fewer to the name among the top seven.

Wenger said: “It is very simple if you look at the mathematics. Who is the team who created the most chances in the League? Arsenal. Have we scored the most goals? No.

“That means there is a deficit between the expected goals and the number of goals we scored. That is a bit in cycles sometimes and maybe we have to find solutions to be a bit more efficient.

“I just say we are a team who likes to go forward and create chances and we do create chances. I do not want to put too much pressure on our strikers because I believe they have the ability to score. So, let’s just maybe hope that we can do more with set-pieces, be more efficient – there are plenty of aspects we can work on that we can improve.”

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