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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to the return of his “difference maker” Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The English international is set to make his first appearance in a one-day team in Fulham on Sunday for the first time after a knee injury in the preseason.
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It will be the 27-year-old’s second comeback from a knee problem, though he’s not even close to the first time he was out for 366 days after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, tearing his lateral collateral ligament, damaging his medial ligament. and ripping a hamstring from the bone in an inning during a Champions League semi-final.
There was some criticism about the player’s performances after he first returned, but Klopp said it was unfair.
“To be honest, I don’t understand these kinds of discussions. You have to hurt yourself once in your life to understand how difficult it is to find everything completely natural and normal again after that, ”he said.
“Being compared to the best moment of your career after coming back from injury is really silly. ‘Oh, it’s not that good anymore.’ I do not have time for that.
“Ox is an outstanding player, an outstanding player, always was and always will be.
“In training, what Ox did so far you can see his quality right away. Immediately. He is a difference maker, you can see that.
“Did you always play perfectly well? No. But he had some really good games that helped us a lot.
“The longer you can stay injury free, the better off you will be. This time we are really sure that we can do it until the end of his career ”.
Liverpool have missed Oxlade-Chamberlain’s drive and scoring ability from midfield, but Klopp is confident it won’t be long before they see him again.
And he believes the team will benefit from having the midfielder back.
“He is a very positive person, a very optimistic person. At a time when Ox rejoins parts of team training, everyone benefits from it. That’s how he is, ”Klopp added.
“You don’t know that you miss him because he’s not around for long and then the moment he comes in and he’s in the gym with the players, they say ‘Okay, sure … it’s much better when he’s here. . That’s Ox.
“In the first weeks, the children get all the help they need, but then, especially with Ox, he’s the one who gives energy, he doesn’t need too much energy from other people.”
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