26 Jun 2017 08:43:42
Obviously Klopp wants Ox as an alternative to Keita. Keita for me is a Kanté with skills and better passing. Klopp also likes developing players to play new positions.

Could Klopp see a future Kanté-like player in Ox? Athletic skills, pace, good workrate and pressing he already got. Needs to develop a better sense of defensive positioning for sure, and improve on his tackling.

Just trying to make sense of it.

1.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 09:19:22
The thing that Kante and Keita both have, is that they're intelligent on and off the ball. You either have that or you don't. You can't coach it. Oxlade doesn't have that intelligence, it's about decision making at the right time, which is something he lacks massively and why he'll never be a top class centre midfielder, he'll always be a very basic winger with a Steven Gerrard fantasy.

2.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 09:24:16
I agree mate. I think he is an absolute steal at £25-30m.

A 23 year old, key player from a rival club who counts towards the home grown quota was never going to be cheap. Why should he be? Off the back of a season where he made 45 appearances, scored 6 and assisted 11 goals. His work rate, pace and power make him ideal for Klopps tactics as well. Arsenal have invested 6 years into his development and the second he comes good, becomes a regular and gets over his injuries, we are poaching him. You have to compensate teams fairly. We would be getting a player with about 12 years left of his career who has already played in the Champions league and the Premier league for a top level side.

Let's be frank here, Coutinho will leave one day. Maybe not this summer, maybe not even next summer, but he will. Henderson could never be the same again. Can still hasn't signed a new deal. Lallana and Milner are getting on a bit. Grujic is up in the air.

Essentially the only midfielder we have almost guaranteed to be fit and still at the club for the next 3 years is Wijnaldum. Chamberlain is openly a Steven Gerrard fan which basically means he is a Liverpool fan, and would look to spend the rest of his career here. We could get all the best years of his career for £25m and people are moaning? I can appreciate people who are concerned about his positional awareness, but the injury stuff is wearing thin. He played 8 more games last season than Clyne who was out most regular player!

3.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 09:29:57
Arsenal plays the best pass and move football in the league and this is exactly the reason Ox never gets a start! He can't pass to play in the middle. He doesn't have the vision and intellegence to pick someone's movement up top. If you are obsessed with his physique and hard core running then Yes he is right up there alongside Sissokho.

In simple terms, We don't need another Ball winner. We need class on the ball!

Please post this Ed's.

4.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 09:30:45
Well i don't know why everyone keeps saying that yo can't learn intelligence. Decision making comes with Experience the more you learn the better you can addapt to certain situations. It is possible to train how to play in certain situations and how to develop into an intelligent playing CM.

5.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 10:01:00
Chamberlain started 27 games last season. More lies.

6.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 10:23:31
All my Arsenal friends say they would be gutted if he left and believe he would get into our first 11 I'm not sure I agree with that but they love him there. I think for 20-25m he's a good buy covering 4-5 positions. Can't understand the hate tbh he has talent, he's hardworking, he's homegrown, he has experience, the fee isn't much in today's terms and he can play in several positions in a season where we hope to have many more games.

{Ed025's Note - but where would he fit in willis?, hes not getting in before salah or mane and possibly lallana, squad player for me mate and i think money would be better spent on the defence or a goal scorer as i think the middle of the park is sorted..

7.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 10:50:00
As I said I'm not sure I agree with him getting in the first 11 right now but he'd be a great impact sub, cover for the injuries that we always pick up and experienced head for cups and Europe. If we're trying to sell markovic for 20m and we buy ox for 25 that is good business imo. He has talent and room for improvement.

8.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 11:31:09
Mk ox started 22 games last season he also came on as a sub 23 times scored 6 goals 3 of which we're in the league cup out of them 45 games he played cm once and dm 3 times in total he's played 160 games which he started 86 times scoring 13 goals and in 18 assists which doesn't include fa cup or league cup so could be slightly more I know you like your facts so do you go my point being he's only played a position he's meant to be signed for 4 times and the other positions he is meant to be covering he has hardly excelled.

9.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 11:35:35
did someone say he can't pass? yet he has double-figure assists. did those assists bounce off his arse into a teammate's knee and into the goal.11 times.!? lol anywho, he is definitely a squad who could be good enough to push for a starting place. he ain't some young buck to chuck on the bench and hope that he can do something when thrown to the lions, he ain't Ojo or Wilson. It would be a worthy purchase. I don't care about the price as the eds have told us time and again not to worry about it, so not worry about it I shall!

10.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 13:01:23
All I'm saying is that Ox is seen as an alternative to Keita. Keita is an energetic, athletic midfielder who breaks up play, gets past opponents and put teammates into play. Ox has the energy, is athletic, canpass get past an opponent. He's not that good att breaking up play, getting in proper defensive positions. If he is an alternative to Keita Klopp must be confident about teaching just that.

11.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 13:10:51
It was definitely 27 mate. 16 in the league, 4 in the CL, 5 in the FA cup, 2 in the EFL cup. My maths isn't that bad!

Also where are you getting these position he played stats from?

He played in midfield over 30 times last season either centrally or in a slightly wider position. Nobody here is suggesting he will play in the central role from deep. He will be playing right or left of a 3 like Lallana and Wijnaldum do.

I don't like stats. I think if you break them down then they can be analysed and used to support an argument, but they shouldn't be the base to an argument. I had to try and tear apart the "we score loads under Klopp" myth the other day because people are bandying it about as a valid stat, without any context or analysis.

So what if he made 18 appearances as a sub? Fact is, he was available to play for all but 3 league games last year. Whether he was picked to start or on the bench is irrelevant. That is Wengers decision, and out of Chamberlains control.

I don't know why people are getting upset just because their sweeping statements and generalisations are being torn up by anybody who can be bothered to look into into. As faith said, 11 assists is not a player who lacks vision. You can fluke a few, but not many players get double figures.

Forget stats and facts. Chamberlain is better than Lallana, better than Grujic, better than Stewart and better than Can in an advanced midfield role. He is also better than Woodburn, Ojo, Wilson, Origi, Sturridge and Ings as a winger. I'd even argue he is a better wing back than Clyne, Moreno or Milner. I don't see how he struggles to get games for us? He is in the match day squad every week for me. We need quality squad depth. Chamberlain is exactly that.

12.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 13:36:55
I would welcome him with open arms, Arsenal fans really rate him and he covers lot of positions so he would almost always start for us if we don't go for keita. agree with MK on every word.

13.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 16:24:27
Adam, you just know that if he comes he will now do his acl in the first week, don't you?

14.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 17:24:49
Mk scouser is pretty consistent with the unpopular opinions. You want Robertson as left back and ox to be played through the middle, that says it all really. We have to aim higher than squad players, anyone with half a brain could determine that signing ox wouldn't be an improvement on anything we have in the first 11 and at the money being quoted it is a ridiculous transfer for an injury prone squad player. If your obsession is to bring in some British players then aim a lot higher, because there aren't any that are available that would take us forward. It's as simple as that.

15.) 26 Jun 2017
26 Jun 2017 19:24:32
Mk, are you high on that stuff JWH say they smoke at the Emirates? Look, as much as I disagree with the way you try to window-dress a player like Ox who is not as good as you make him out to be cos you are drawing all types of things like "he is a SG fan so he will be good", the fact that you actually posted that Ox is better than Lallana is where your total and blind bias for Ox, went off the rails. Ox better than Lallana? Now that is the most absurd thing I have ever read in any of your posts.