I look around our dressing room and see WINNERS
MILNER BACKS LIVERPOOL’S TITLE STARS
@Mullocksmirror JAMES MILNER is the only current Liverpool player who has got a Premier League winners’ medal.
But when the former England midfielder looks around the Anfield dressing room, he reckons it’s only a matter of time before the rest of Jurgen Klopp’s men have got more than tears for souvenirs.
Milner, a two-time champion with Manchester City, understands the significance of beating his former club to the line this season – after a catalogue of near misses has seen Liverpool written off as serial losers. Liverpool have lost three finals under their German coach, but Milner said: “Do I think they have what it takes? Yes, I see winners. “We’ve lost a few finals, but we’ve kept going and we have improved as a team, year on year.
“But, of course, we are not yet winners. You can’t be winners until you actually win something.
“We know the potential is there. Everyone can see that this isn’t a good team just in the way we play football.
“You can look at times this season when we have not played so well but still got results.
“We have shown such great determination to keep going. We have dug deep and gone again.
“It doesn’t mean that we will get over the line, but we are getting closer each year and we’ve got a good chance.
“We just have to take care of our games.”
When Milner won the title with City, on both occasions they had to wait until the final day of the season before being confirmed as champions.
First there was Sergio Aguero’s dramatic injury-time goal to secure victory over QPR in 2012.
And two years later, City edged out Liverpool by beating West Ham, after Brendan Rodgers’ Kop side suffered a meltdown in the final week of the campaign.
Steven Gerrard’s slip against Chelsea at Anfield was compounded when City took control of their own destiny by winning at Crystal Palace.
Perhaps it is fate that today, Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions travel to Selhurst Park before Klopp’s men host Maurizio Sarri’s Blues.
Liverpool lead City by two points at the start of today, but have played a game more in a rollercoaster contest.
Milner said: “We have learned that there is always going to be a lot of talk when you are at a club like Liverpool and it’s been such a long wait for the title.
“But you can see from our performances that our focus is on what we can control.
“The setbacks this club has suffered will make it sweeter if we get there.
“It is always hard to win the Premier League. The two times I won it was in the last game of the season and it looks like it will go to the death again.
“So much can happen in the few games we’ve got left. That is why we love the Premier League.” Milner opted to swap Manchester for Merseyside after rejecting the offer of a new contract in the summer of 2015. But at 33, the Yorkshireman is too experienced to say that beating his former club would make a Liverpool title win sweeter. Milner said: “It is special any time you win the Premier League because it is so damned hard to do. We are up against a team that is being spoken about as one of the best teams we’ve ever seen and we are going toe-to-toe with them.
“Hopefully we’ll get over the line but, if not, we can look back knowing we have done everything we can and then go again next year.
“There’s certainly no tug of emotion with it being City we’re up against.
“I had a great five years there, won every trophy in England, and I don’t have any extra motivation because it’s City.
“Of course, they are in the driving seat. We could win all our games and it still might not be enough.”