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| Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was coached by his dad in Southampton's academy |
GROWING up with a dad who was an England international had its moments but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still driven to better himself by the memory of the day his father Mark left him in floods of tears.
Chamberlain Snr played eight times for England in the early 1980s and was subsequently taken on to coach the younger teams at Southampton, where his own boy would eventually come through the ranks.
"My dad was the academy coach at under-11 level," recalled Oxlade-Chamberlain. "At that level, everybody was meant to get the same game time so nobody gets too disheartened.
"However, 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.
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| Oxlade-Chamberlain credits Thierry Henry with the best piece of advice he has ever been given |
"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.' And I did. That was when he was most disappointed with me, when he had me in tears at the end of the game. But he was right. I do remember that."
Oxlade-Chamberlain still takes on board his father's advice ahead of anybody else's - although it is tempting sometimes just to listen to mum Wendy.
"I can have the worst game of my life, come off the pitch and my mum will tell me I was great," he said. "That's what mum's do.
"Dad is a harsh critic but he is a realistic one. I always know I can go to him for honest advice. He 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.
"There are things that other people would not even have noticed if they watched the games but stuff I need to be doing better. My dad has built that culture into me.
"He is very laid back, though, so he will usually leave it until he sees me to talk about a game. He will check in with a text saying, 'Well done'.
"But when he actually gives me a ring and I can hear he is happy on the phone... that is when I really know I have done well."
Chamberlain Snr is not the only person who Oxlade-Chamberlain learend he could ill afford to ignore.
Oxlade-Chamberlain credits Arsenal legend Thierry Henry with the best piece of advice he has ever been given, ahead of his first ever Premier League start against Manchester United in January 2012.
"He put me in a headlock just before I went out," Oxlade-Chamberlain recalled at an event for Vauxhall, team sponsor of England.
"Then he whispered in my ear, 'Make sure you are 100 per cent with your belief in your abilities to go past people.
"Don't let anybody tell you that you are not good enough to do that, because that is what you are here to do.'"
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