Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been speaking about the contrasting personalities of his former managers at Liverpool and Arsenal – Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger
During an extensive interview on the Fozcast, which spans his whole career, Oxlade-Chamberlain revealed that the perceptions of the two men are largely true. While Klopp would marshal his troops into battle and demand every ounce of effort, Wenger was more of a teacher:
“At Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp’s best attribute was getting the absolute most out of everyone. I went to Liverpool as a winger/midfielder, but he celebrated whenever I stopped an opposition winger putting the ball in our box. I gained an appreciation for that side of the game under him, something that I hadn’t thought about before. Jurgen would rile you up so much, you’d feel like you’re going into war, in the trenches. At Liverpool, there wasn’t one game that I thought we weren’t going to win – that was the environment he made.”
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“The difference in the football styles between the two, Arsene was just pure soccer, and the nuggets he’d give you would be amazing. Wenger would understand rhythm and that you need a few weeks to get into the flow, whereas at Liverpool under Klopp, I felt that if you came back in from an injury and you didn’t hit the heights, he’d have no patience. Klopp was better at understanding work rate and effort over things like rhythm and patience. They both had great elements but were different at the same time.”
Klopp demanded the best from his players
It does sound as if the former Liverpool boss was pretty intense. Demands were high on the pitch, even if players weren’t 100% fit.
Klopp’s determination to win undoubtedly helped inspire his players, but it clearly led to a few injuries as well, if Oxlade-Chamberlain’s comments are anything to go by.
Liverpool’s “mentality monsters”
Klopp described his squad as “mentality monsters” on several occasions, but it seems as if the players’ resilience and their belief that they could win every game was cultivated by their manager.
It is not a surprise to hear that the German had such an overriding influence on the team as a whole. His personality played a major role in the Reds’ success over the course of his tenure, leading to the club winning the Premier League, Champions League and every other competition they played in.
Read more about the Liverpool First Team Squad for 2025/26 here