almonfoto \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n
We\u2019ve made no secret here in the And Could He Play offices about the fact that we think James Milner could be one of the signings of the summer, and our conviction of that fact has been furthered by his display at The Emirates.<\/p>\n
Milner is not only a one man pressing machine, rushing and harrying opposition players to the point that they look around exasperated, wondering when it will ever stop. He is also a brilliant leader on the pitch, talking players through the game, letting them know where they\u2019re supposed to be and what they should be doing. He plays everyone else\u2019s game as well as his own, chatting and communicating with those around him throughout the match.<\/p>\n
Combining Milner\u2019s talkative nature in the middle of the park with Dejan Lovren\u2019s new found vocal ability at the back has reminded us of that age old adage: it\u2019s good to talk.<\/p>\n
The other key thing about Milner is that he\u2019s been there and done that. He has won the Premier League twice, the FA Cup and the League Cup as well as the Community Shield. Though Manchester City have been less than impressive on the European stage, domestically they have won everything there is to win and Milner has been a crucial part of that.<\/p>\n
When players like Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke look around the Liverpool dressing room it\u2019s important that they see winners, reminding them that they haven\u2019t joined a club in the hope of getting a better move in the future, but rather they\u2019ve come to Liverpool Football Club to win more.<\/p>\n
If Liverpool should be involved in a title challenge at the business end of the season \u2013 and there\u2019s no reason to believe they won\u2019t be after their first three performances \u2013 then how vital could it be that their vice captain knows exactly what it takes to win things at the crucial moment?<\/p>\n
Brendan Rodgers has admitted, with hindsight, that Liverpool were perhaps a little na\u00efve in the run in the to the 2013-2014 title challenge. They went gung-ho against Chelsea in a match where a draw would have been more than sufficient \u2013 and promptly lost. Could things have been different if Milner had been in the dressing room and on the pitch, telling those around him to keep cool heads and simply see the game through? Would he have been able to have a chat with the manager and say that a bore draw would be enough to win the title? Maybe, maybe not; but he\u2019s there now and the reality is that he adds a whole heap of experience and a winning mentality to a team that needs to learn what it takes to be the victors when the race is won.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also something to be said for this Liverpool team being built in Milner\u2019s image. He\u2019s a grafter, giving his all to help the team in whatever capacity he can. But he\u2019s also not afraid to do the dirty work; chucking in a foul if it will stop a critical counter attack or taking a booking if it means stopping an almost certain goal. Liverpool Mark IV under Brendan Rodgers seems to have all of those qualities, too.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also not a show off. He does the running, covers the ground, makes the tackles, but doesn\u2019t get back up and make a song and dance about it, demanding the plaudits. This Liverpool team seems like it\u2019s ready to graft out results, push opposition teams to the limit and do what needs to be done to win.<\/p>\n
The Liverpool team of 2013-2014 was full of energy, excitement and attacking intent, but they lacked the necessary roughness to keep clean sheets and defend as if their lives depended on it when it came to the crunch. Can a Liverpool team with Christian Benteke and Daniel Sturridge up front, Philippe Coutinho pulling the strings and James Milner offering them guts, guile and experience go one step further? Watch this space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Manager\u2019s Got His Swagger Back At times last season, particularly as it drew to a close, Brendan Rodgers looked like a broken man. Brendan Rodgers is a man with extraordinary self-belief. He\u2019s suffered setbacks \u2013 such as being sacked as the manager of Reading \u2013 and heartbreak \u2013 he lost his mum and dad to cancer a year apart \u2013 but has bounced back from every problem he\u2019s faced with renewed energy, optimism and determination. For some Rodgers\u2019 faith in his own abilities is a stick with which to beat him: he\u2019s arrogant, they say; he loves the sound […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}