Oxlade-chamberlain earns place back in evolving side
Liverpool midfielder tells Matt Law that a lot has changed since his England debut in 2012
Alex Oxlade-chamberlain made his England debut in 2012 as a substitute in a team in which Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Phil Jones started.
Four others – Steven Gerrard,
Rob Green, Joleon Lescott and Scott Parker – have hung up their boots. Only Jordan Henderson remains part of the England set-up, so no wonder Oxlade-chamberlain, who is only 26, considers himself a different incarnation of the player who first represented his country over seven years ago.
Oxlade-chamberlain scored his first England goal since June 2017 in the Euro 2020 qualifying victory over Montenegro on Thursday. It was his first international start for more than 18 months and he is now hoping to secure a place in Gareth Southgate’s squad for next summer’s finals, having not played in a major tournament since 2012, in Poland and Ukraine.
“I have been around a while and had a lot of injuries that kept me out of big games and tournaments,” the Liverpool midfielder said. “In that time, there have been a lot of other boys who have come through – James Maddison is doing really well, Ross Barkley has been doing well, especially with England, and you have the likes of Hendo [Henderson] as well. Mason Mount has come into the fold now.
“There are different players and new dynamics, so it is nice to slot back in and keep pushing myself to keep improving and try to find something different to help this team move forward.”
Southgate this week claimed that England’s midfielders must aspire to the levels set by Paul Pogba and N’golo Kante for France, and Jorginho for Italy, but Oxladechamberlain believes the current squad have just as much ability.
“I haven’t watched France play in a long time, but I think we have [got the players to be a top side],” he said. “Every player in this team plays in the Premier League except Jadon [Sancho]. We play in the hardest league in the world and everyone is used to playing against the likes of Pogba or Kante – or playing with them.
“We play with top players and against top players week in, week out, but it is something the boys deal with at club level.”