Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has insisted the club's summer signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain still 'has a lot of space for improvement' following the midfielder's admittance that his performance against Swansea on Boxing Day was not up to the level he expects of himself.
The 24-year-old has made 22 appearances for the Reds in all competitions this season following his £35m move from Arsenal, and although the midfielder initially struggled to find his feet at Anfield he has since made three starting appearances in the club's last five league fixtures.
Oxlade-Chamberlain netted the final goal in Liverpool's 5-0 victory over the Swans and after showing signs of improvement and steady progress, Klopp told the club's website: "Ox is a smart player. He knew it was not even close to his best possible performance [against Swansea], but it's no problem, that's football.
"Ox needs to adapt to the position still, that's no problem. He has a lot of space for improvement. But it's nice to see that he is really working hard on it.
"That may be the biggest surprise for pretty much everybody, this genius talented kid that he was when he came from Southampton and what all the people said about him. We learn more about him every day.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has now equalled his best tally of goals in league and Europe in one season: 3.
— Andrew Beasley (@BassTunedToRed) December 26, 2017
Which doesn't say much for his scoring record at Arsenal...
"He is a really hard-working boy and wants to improve. It's good that he knows he can do better now we have to work together on it so he can do better."
Whilst Oxlade-Chamberlain has started to impress further up the field, his teammate and central defender Ragnar Klavan has caught the eye of Klopp following his defensive displays for the team.
Ragnar Klavan has been a class act this season. Very composed on the ball and great at reading the game. He's currently Liverpool's best CB. #lfc pic.twitter.com/bH62h6LI0H
— Max Riegel (@max_riegel) December 26, 2017
The 32-year-old could be pushed down the pecking order at Anfield following the £75m signing of Virgil van Dijk, but Klopp has hailed the Estonia international as a 'perfect role model.'
Klopp added: "He is a perfect role model for pretty much all signings. He loves being here. He needs to be confident. He could be much more confident with his skills... but we are working on that as well.
"He is in good shape at the moment. It's very, very important for us that he is. We had Joel (Matip) and Dejan (Lovren) with one or two little [injuries] so it was very important that he could step in."
