Is the best of Ox yet to come?
Ox popped up with a goal against Burnley in our penultimate game of the season, reminding us what he’s all about and let’s face it, you couldn’t be blamed for having forgotten, so little have we seen of him in the past two years. Could his best be still come however?
It’s been a strange time at LFC for Ox. A promising start to his LFC career brought us some brilliant moments – who could forget his goals against City and he was instrumental in us reaching our first CL final under Klopp, only for his season, as well as the following season, to be cruelly cut short with a terrible knee injury.
Make no mistake, that knee injury Ox had where he basically ruptured all his knee ligaments, is as bad an injury as a footballer can get. It’s not surprising he’s picked up further niggles since his return to fitness, it tends to be the way after so long out. I also remember reading an interview with a knee specialist who was working with him at the time and she said that although he was fit to play, he could expect to feel pain in his knee for at least another year after being back.
That’s been another year now however and Ox has actually been fit for most of the second half of the season. The defensive injuries has meant Klopp has opted for a solid midfield, which has affected the minutes the likes of Ox and Curtis received but moving into next season, it’s make or break for Ox.
If, and it’s a big if, we can keep him fit, Ox is actually a real weapon in our arsenal. Powerful, direct running from midfield and someone who’s actually prepared to shoot from outside the box. Cast your mind back to the game against Atletico where he ran them ragged, the aforementioned games with City too, if we can get that Ox back, he can be a game changer for our midfield, in terms of an offensive threat and with Gini leaving and goal scoring proving difficult at times this season, there’s every reason to think Klopp may look to provide more attacking impetus from midfield next season.
I hope it works out for Ox, he seems a thoroughly decent lad and when fit and firing he’s a very good player. This second year of little football will probably be good for his knee moving forward, hopefully the pain has subsided and he can effectively relaunch his career next season. I do feel it’s last chance saloon for Ox though. Another injury ravaged season will likely be his last with us but it’s easy to forget we’ve still got a really good player there.
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