Oxlade-Chamberlain: Records don’t drive Liverpool & Reds will keep plodding along

Liverpool are driven by the desire to be successful, not to break records, says Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The Reds continue to re-write the history books with their remarkable efforts in the 2019-20 campaign.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have already made the best start to a season ever seen by European football’s elite divisions.

They are showing no sign of allowing those standards to drop either, with a 2-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday representing their 23rd success in 24 Premier League outings.

A 19-point lead has been opened up at the top of the table, with the current holders of the Champions League crown fast closing in on a first title triumph in 30 years.

It could be that more records tumble around them before further silverware is secured, but Oxlade-Chamberlain insists that will not be used as motivation for those at Anfield.

He told the Reds’ official website after finding the target against the Hammers: “There are a lot of tough games coming up so we’ve just to keep plodding along and keep doing what we are doing to first and foremost achieve what we want to do in the league. That’s the most important thing – finishing as high up as we can – and we are in a good position.

“We want to keep that going and if records come off the back of that then that’s obviously a little bonus, but you can’t really think about those things, I don’t think.”

Despite seeing Klopp’s side drop just two points in the league, while also faring admirably in domestic and European cup competitions, Oxlade-Chamberlain believes they do have room for improvement.

He feels a star-studded defensive unit have been overworked at times, adding on the back of another hard-fought win at the London Stadium: “At times I think, especially in the first half, maybe things got a little bit static or robotic and we struggled to remember patterns of play and things that have got us success, so we came in at half-time a little bit disappointed with ourselves and disappointed with the fundamentals, the movements and the things that we work on to create space and go in the right direction.

“In the second half we had more moments where that was working a bit better. We won the ball back a bit quicker and a bit sharper, but we were sloppy as well at moments so we can improve on that.

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“The boys at the back, we are lucky to have them and they get us out of some situations where we are a bit sloppy. Our goalkeeper, Ali, he is top drawer and with those boys behind you they get you out of a bit of trouble at times and we need that from time to time.

“We have people like Hendo [Jordan Henderson], who just keeps us going, keeps pushing and keeps the standards high. We are barking at each other all game and are never satisfied, but I think after the second goal went in, overall, we controlled the game mostly.

“We had a few chances – Mo [Salah] hit the post and there were a few other moments when we could have maybe killed the game off – but in the end we saw the game out well.”