Jurgen Klopp has downplayed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's angry reaction to being substituted in Liverpool's 2-0 victory against Manchester United on Sunday.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was replaced by Adam Lallana in the 66th minute at Anfield and was visibly unhappy to leave the pitch. He smacked the back of a seat in the dugout as he joined the other substitutes.
The midfielder was also taken off for Lallana in the 61st minute of Liverpool's 1-0 win at Tottenham the previous week, having recently returned from an ankle injury.
'He is not frustrated, he just looks like this,' Klopp said in his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday's Premier League encounter against Wolves. 'I asked him and it is fine.
'It is normal a player wants to play 90 minutes but we have to learn from our own past. Oxlade is an unbelievably important player for us.
'There are moments in a game where players get a bit tired and they show up. I try to read the players during a game and try to understand which moment they are energy level-wise and make a decision.
'Sometimes I hit the point and sometimes not, maybe with Ox last time I was a bit too early but he got a knock on top of that. He was limping a little bit.
'If a midfielder is limping you start looking in detail and sometimes in a defensive situation a midfielder is not where he should be and then there is the impact. You have to make a decision After the game it didn’t feel that bad, the knock he got.'
AKIN21
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Ox Chamberlain Be happy You are very very good player 💪