Versatile Liverpool player James Milner remains in former Tottenham striker Garth Crooks’ top three contenders for Footballer of the Year.
Milner will turn 33 next month but Georginio Wijnaldum, four years his junior, is the only Liverpool midfielder to have started more games than the former Leeds United, Aston Villa and Manchester City player.
James Milner is more influential to Liverpool than you might have realised…
- Milner has scored three goals and made two assists in 16 appearances for the Reds this campaign.
- The Englishman has played the fourth-most passes (840) in the league among his teammates.
- That figure is second only to Wijnaldum in terms of Liverpool midfielders, although he has played at right-back twice in the top flight this term.
- Milner has also created more chances (20) than any other Liverpool midfielder.
- And the same is true of the number of tackles he has made (24).
Milner, who made it into Crooks’ Team of the Week after his display from right-back in the 2-0 defeat of Wolves, is a firm candidate for Footballer of the Year, according to the 60-year-old pundit.
“I felt sorry for Nathaniel Clyne. When a manager has a player like James Milner, who can play in a variety of positions, everyone else in the team has to be on the top of their game,” Crooks wrote in his column for the BBC.
“Milner came in for Clyne against Wolves and was as dependable and as solid as you would expect from one of the most experienced players in the country. He is still in my top three contenders for Footballer of the Year.”
The BBC pundit, who appears regularly on the broadcaster’s flagship football live coverage show Final Score, picked two additional Liverpool players in his team: Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
The latter was named the Premier League’s Player of the Year last season after he set a new single-campaign record in the competition by scoring 32 goals.
Of Salah, who scored Liverpool’s opener at Wolves, Crooks said: “This was a blistering performance by Mo Salah against Wolves, especially in the first half. Salah’s movement off the ball was like watching Lionel Messi. He was everywhere.
“However, it was his goal that made me sit up and applaud this Egyptian national treasure. It was Salah who took the free-kick, followed the ball into the box and watched his team-mates work the ball around the penalty area. All the time, Salah never took his eyes off the ball until it left his boot into the back of the net. Genius.”
Milner’s mind is on Newcastle this Christmas
While many people in the UK and around the world will be breaking open presents and stuffing themselves with festive treats, footballers from your favourite Premier League clubs will be working hard on their training grounds on Christmas morning.
Liverpool will look to preserve their unbeaten record against Newcastle United at Anfield on Boxing Day, but Milner says his teammates will be focused on the task at hand despite the festivities going one around them.
“Boxing Day always seems to have a different feel,” Milner told the club site.
“There are plenty of distractions, or there could be, for players and for fans and things like that, and it’s always a nice festive feeling around the game.
“It’s a traditional thing to do at Christmas but as players, we have to focus on the job at hand and make sure we’re not distracted by the time of year.
“It is a time of year for family and you have to make time for that, but when you’re training on Christmas Day and then going to the hotel and preparing for the game, your mind has got to be on that.”
The post Liverpool utility man James Milner labelled a ‘Footballer of the Year’ contender appeared first on Squawka News.
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