Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed the biggest difference between Liverpool and Arsenal.
Back in 2017, Oxlade-Chamberlain left the Gunners for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in a deal worth a reported £40 million.
After six years with the Anfield club, during which he won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, the Englishman left Liverpool for Turkish Super Lig club Besiktas.
Now, in a recent interview with The Athletic, Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed the biggest difference in mentality between Liverpool and Arsenal.
He said: “At Arsenal, we always went into those big games thinking, ‘This is going to be really tough’.
“That was the biggest difference at Liverpool, where, even in the first season (2017-18) when we were a bit of an unknown entity, there was this unbelievable complete and utter focus where there was nothing else happening but us winning the game. I don’t know why, but at Liverpool, the big games, we just knew we were going to win.”
Speaking about his time with Arsenal, Oxlade-Chamberlain said: “We won FA Cups, but we probably never achieved what we should have done.
“We had unbelievable quality. Football-wise we had everything we needed to do the business. We were just missing… Belief? Toughness? Ruthlessness? I don’t know. Maybe it was a bit of that.”
The 30-year-old revealed that Leicester City’s Premier League triumph was the most disappointing moment of his Arsenal career.
He said: “We were top in January and the other so-called big teams weren’t doing well that year. But we dropped the ball in games we should have won.”
Bench cam footage of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s reaction to late Liverpool goal speaks volumes
All of Mikel Arteta’s reactions to Arsenal vs. Liverpool were captured on ‘bench cam’, but it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain that caught the eye with his almost non-existent celebration.
The 29-year-old midfielder made 198 appearances for the Gunners during a seven-year stay in North London.
He arguably played his best football under Arsene Wenger but the England international grew increasingly frustrated at Arsenal’s lack of activity over a new contract.
Chamberlain was also frequently asked to play as a wing-back at Arsenal instead of his preferred midfield position, so when Liverpool moved in 2017, he left the Gunners – a decision he described as the ‘hardest of his life’.
The Southampton youth product has struggled to find regular first-team minutes at Anfield in recent years and with a year left on his current deal, he is expected to leave Anfield in the summer.
Chamberlain, who has made just 13 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side this season, didn’t make the matchday squad for Sunday’s clash against top of the league Arsenal.
But he did sit on the Anfield bench alongside Fabio Carvalho and Nat Phillips.
A late equaliser from Roberto Firmino handed Liverpool a point but after the Brazilian scored, Chamberlain produced a muted reaction as those around him celebrated wildly.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Reaction on Firmino's goal against Arsenal at Anfield.
Once a gooner always a gunner@harun pic.twitter.com/b7YnKrILny
— Patrick Tesco🇰🇪 ♧☆ (@MutaiBinKeter) April 12, 2023
Back in 2020, Oxlade-Chamberlain opened up on his Arsenal exit in an interview with Ian Wright.
“I wouldn’t say I wanted to leave Arsenal because I didn’t believe we could win,” he said. “I just didn’t believe I was going to be able to play where I wanted to play and that was it.
“Me winning the Champions League was obviously a dream come true and a massive bonus but I didn’t feel like ‘Ah, I told you so’ [at Arsenal].”
He added: “It was a big decision for me to leave a club like Arsenal. It was everything I knew at the top level for seven years.
“When you’ve been at a club like that for seven years…it’s a club where you love being and it’s more than just a football club, it’s a family culture.
“When I had to make the decision to leave, it was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make and to be honest there was a part of me that didn’t know if it was the right thing.”
Chamberlain added: “I feel a lot of my best performances for Arsenal came in midfield but I never played consistently in that position.
“The first game of that season I switched with Hector [Bellerin]. First game I played on the left [wing-back], he played on the right and second game we switched.
“I thought ‘I’ve got to take the risk, I’ve got to take the chance. I don’t want to look back at the end and think I didn’t try.’”