Thierry Henry Talks Up 'Settled' Oxlade-Chamberlain After Backtracking Over Criticism
Thierry Henry has sought to clarify his opinions and criticism of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after the Liverpool midfielder labelled the Frenchman's comments as 'stupid'.
The England international has been at the fore of criticism in recent days after Sky Sports pundits Henry and Gary Neville questioned his quality, where the former had said: "Watching him for a very long time and I still don’t know what he’s good at.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain had a slow start to his career at Anfield following his £35m move from Arsenal in the summer, but has turned his fortunes around in recent months by becoming a key member of Jurgen Klopp's midfield brigade.
After being awarded the Man of the Match award in his most recent outing against Newcastle the 24-year-old addressed the comments as 'stupid' and 'nice to hear'.
Henry has since looked to explain his position on the Liverpool man, as he wrote in his column for Sky Sports: "Oxlade-Chamberlain deserves praise for what he's done during his short time at Liverpool so far. But we didn't see that clearly at Arsenal.
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"At Arsenal, there has always been a lot of debate as to what Oxlade-Chamberlain's best position is. One day he was a wing back, one day he was a left winger, one day a right winger and on another a number 10. That was the problem, we just didn't know.
"It's so difficult to find out who you are and what you are good at if you don't have a run of games in a settled position."
Henry claims Oxlade-Chamberlain has the tools to become a top player but was just not given the opportunity to do so at the Emirates. He admits it is not the case in Liverpool as he credited the midfielder and his manager Klopp for pursuing a central midfield role which is slowly reaping its rewards.
Henry added: "For Liverpool, we are now seeing a midfielder that puts the pressure on the opposition at every opportunity, he wins the ball back, he scores goals and also gives assists. Now we can see clearly what type of player he is.
"We can now see clarity in his game and in what he's being asked to do. That is what he is showing right now. All credit must go to Jurgen Klopp and Oxlade-Chamberlain himself.
We can now see the player he can become at Liverpool. The potential was always there. Now, he is playing magnificently well. If he continues at his current ratio of goals and assists, he will go past the ratio he achieved at Arsenal so easily."
