Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says Jurgen Klopp's "fear factor" got a tune out of his Liverpool players. He also described the German manager as "loud" and "intense."
Klopp took over at Liverpool in 2015 and during his nearly nine-year tenure, guided them to Champions League and Premier League glory among other silverware. He returns to Anfield on Saturday as part of the coaching staff for the legends charity match.
Oxlade-Chamberlain joined the German's ranks from Arsenal in 2017 and spent six seasons under him. The 32-year-old sang Klopp's praises as a coach but also opened up about what he was like behind the scenes.
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The Englishman says Klopp was so successful because of how intimidating he could be. "As approachable as Jurgen is, there was always that fear factor," Oxlade-Chamberlain said on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet.
"That, 'If I don't run one time, I'm gonna hear about it and I'm really gonna hear it.' So you just never wanted to take that risk. He's loud and he'll let you know.
"He's also intense, but he was like that every single day. There was no favouritism. It wasn't, 'Mo [Salah] won't get shouted at for not running back or pulled up in a meeting.' Everyone was on the same hymn sheet.
"I think that team that I came into, everyone was kind of there with a point to prove. There was no ready-made superstar. So we were all wanting to go in one direction and no one was too big to be told.
"They recruited really well in terms of the personalities. Generally when you're in a big team, you have one or two guys that are hard to deal with or work with, or they're maybe too big for the team or some of the team-mates, what they've achieved.
"But we didn't have that at Liverpool. We also self-managed, like Hendo (Jordan Henderson) and Milly (James Milner). The manager didn't do a lot of the stuff. We would do it ourselves.
"Milly and Hendo would take command. You'd be worried about Jurgen having a go at you. But if you didn't put in 110 per cent, you were also worried about Milly and Hendo letting you know.
"And they would every day in training. There was no let-up and it was intense. But because you're getting success off the back of it you didn't mind doing it."
Oxlade-Chamberlain departed Merseyside with the aforementioned Champions League and Premier League winners' medals, as well as an FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup on his Liverpool resume. After a troubled time in Turkey with Besiktas, he's now back in the UK playing for Celtic on an initial deal until the end of the season.
