Ox showing why Wenger must go now
IT seems almost cruel now to have a go at Arsene Wenger, but here goes anyway.
The Arsenal boss always claims he is powerless to stop great players at the peak of their game going to clubs who offer more money.
But what about those who went to other clubs before they had peaked – not for the money, but to play for a coach they believed would develop them?
Someone like Alex Oxladechamberlain, who took less wages at Liverpool because he felt Jurgen Klopp could make him the successful, attacking central midfielder he’d always wanted to be.
In 132 Premier League games for Arsenal, he hit nine goals with 14 assists, mainly because he was being played in any one of five positions.
In 26 games with Liverpool, he has three goals and five assists, the last two of those assists coming from surging runs through the middle of the park.
He looks a completely different player, who has fought his way back into Gareth Southgate’s England plans and, at 24, will be part of Liverpool’s plans for years to come. Years in which he will only improve.
You get why Alexis Sanchez walked away from Arsenal to Manchester United, but Oxladechamberlain leaving the club he had been with since he was 18 for Liverpool should be one of the many final nails in
Wenger’s coffin.