Football
ESPN staff 9y

Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain grateful to 'harsh critic' father Mark

England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain credits his father's strictness and honesty as the two things that made him into the footballer he is today.

Mark Chamberlain played for a host of English clubs including Stoke City and Portsmouth and also won eight caps for England in the 1980s, and has passed that experience he gained on to his son.

"He is a harsh critic but he is a realistic one," Oxlade-Chamberlain said in the Daily Star.

"I always know I can go to him for honest advice. I can have the worst game of my life, come off the pitch and my mum will tell me I was great! That's what mums do.

"But dad has always been able to tell me in the right way whether I have done well or badly.

"There is always room for improvement and I have always grown up knowing however well I have done, there is always something I could have done better.

The Arsenal midfielder recalled one game in particular when his father taught him a harsh lesson in the life of a footballer.

"At Southampton, my dad was the academy coach at under-11 level," said the Gunner, now 21 years old.

"I remember we were away at Tottenham and about 10 minutes in I had made two mistakes and both times he had told me what I needed to do and I didn't listen and learn from it quick enough.

"He pulled me off and said, 'Sit there! Actually, don't. Go and sit in the car.'

"I had travelled all that way and he gave me literally 15 minutes. I was in floods of tears. I remember he said: 'You'll listen to me next time'. He was right."

Oxlade-Chamberlain says that Thierry Henry also had a great influence on his development, remembering an inspiration pep talk he received when playing alongside the Arsenal legend.

"It was before a Manchester United game," Oxlade-Chamberlain said.

"He put me in a headlock just before I went out.

"Then he whispered in my ear, 'When you are on the pitch, make sure you are 100 percent with your belief in your abilities.

"'When you go to take somebody on, you are going to take somebody on. Don't let anybody tell you that you are not good enough to do that, because that is what you are here to do.'"

"To hear somebody like him say that to me was really amazing."

Oxlade-Chamberlain is in line to pick up his 21st England cap in the Euro 2016 qualifier against San Marino on Saturday.

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