Chamberlain’s nightmare injury

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was having a superb 2017/18 season until April of 2018.

The English midfielder was doing an excellent job in his relatively new role as a central midfielder.

However, Ox would be injured in the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final clash with Serie A outfit, Roma.

It was then revealed that Chamberlain had suffered Cruciate Ligament damage.

Not only did he go on to miss the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but Chamberlain also missed pretty much all of the 2018/19 season.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 04: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of Liverpool celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield on April 4, 2018 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Why Ox didn’t make the cut

Chamberlain eventually made his Premier League return on April 26th 2019. He came off the bench for 17 minutes in Liverpool’s 5-0 victory over Huddersfield.

The 25-year-old would manage just two more minutes of action on the final day of the Premier League season vs Wolves.

While Chamberlain is no longer injured, Gareth Southgate chose to leave him out of his latest England squad to face the Netherlands on June 6th.

Southgate has explained he left Ox out due to his lack of game time and not wanting to risk making his injury any worse.

However, Southgate did mention that Chamberlain will be in England’s thoughts next season:

“I think when you are recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, you need a period of time to get into more starts, more 90 minutes under his belt and it’s an important thing for him that he’s managed to get some minutes at Liverpool.

“But I think a good pre-season… because what’s happened with him, a couple of minor hamstring injuries, is classic when you’ve been out with a long-term injury.

“We shouldn’t be risking him in our games at this stage of his recovery from a serious injury. But he’s very much in our thoughts for next season.”As quoted by the Evening Standard.

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