Testing booster
O’neill happy golden boy Milner became glory boy SOFA FANS A COMFORT TO REDS
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Gareth Barry Ryan Giggs Frank Lampard David James James Milner Gary Speed Emile Heskey Mark Schwarzer Jamie Carragher Phil Neville Rio Ferdinand Steven Gerrard Sol Campbell Paul Scholes Jermain Defoe John Terry Wayne Rooney Michael Carrick Sylvain Distin Peter Crouch
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VIRGIL VAN DIJK believes Liverpool are motivated by fans singing on their sofas while they cannot be at Anfield.
The Merseysiders host Crystal Palace tomorrow in their first home game behind closed doors since the restart.
The Kop is famous for firing up Jurgen Klopp’s side on big nights but Liverpool will have to take another step towards the title without their fans.
But Van Dijk, 28, insists the team will still be motivated knowing their supporters are tuning in around the world.
“The supporters not being there will be so strange,” the Reds defender (right) told the official Liverpool FC matchday programme.
“Particularly as our supporters are so important to us but we have to make the best of it. The supporters haven’t disappeared, they will just be somewhere else.
“We know we will have millions of people watching us from home so we still have the responsibility to perform for them and ourselves.
“The whole world has had to make sacrifices and
MARTIN O’NEILL admits there was a time when he was seriously brassed off with “Teacher’s Pet” James Milner.
Now as the Liverpool midfielder closes in on a third Premier League winners’ medal, his former boss reveals he couldn’t be more delighted.
It’s hard to believe model pro Milner could upset any of his managers but his decision to quit O’neill’s Aston Villa in 2010 rankled at the time.
Villa were sixth in the table with a wealthy and enthusiastic American owner and O’neill was looking to have a real crack at the big boys.
He said: “Perhaps I took it too personally when he wanted to leave because we were getting a lot of money for him from Manchester City.
“He was consistently excellent for us. We were doubling our money but he was irreplaceable for me.
“James was going there to further his career and certainly further his future financially. But to me, we were trying to compete with the likes of City and Tottenham at that time. Maybe another season and we might have done it. It was disappointing.
“But I’ve got to say, I could not be more pleased for him for getting the career and the medals that he so thoroughly deserves.”
For someone tagged ‘boring’ the boy done good. Since making his top-flight debut with Leeds at 16, Milner has bagged FA Cup and unfortunately the way things are means we play at the stadium and the supporters watch from their homes.
“But we have a strong enough connection to our fans to know they’ll be with us for every kick, header, pass, shot and save.
“We can still make this cool if we all really give our best.
“The supporters know we feel them still. I really hope we can help bring some joy. That will be a motivation for us.”
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Champions League winners’ medals plus 61 England caps and, now 34, still has plenty of miles left in his engine.
Milner plays up to it. A parody Twitter account called ‘Boring James Milner’ has almost 700,000 followers and in 2014 he said he wouldn’t even crack open a beer if England won the World Cup.
O’neill considers him to be a living, breathing, identikit version of a model professional. And that’s why he’s so happy his former charge has answered the “Teacher’s Pet” jibe that was aimed at him by some of his team-mates.
The Irishman added: “He can run with the ball, score you a goal. He was terrific. He was never my teacher’s pet but he was terrific for me.
“Truth be known, I actually had a different teacher’s pet every week, but I’m glad to know that Teacher’s Pet went on to win so much in the game, while I would politely suggest those who said it, the likes of Steve Sidwell and Curtis Davies, haven’t gone on to have careers anything like the one that Milner has enjoyed.
“James just covered so much ground. He is like the identikit pro. He doesn’t drink. He puts everything into his training and his game. He’s put football at the top of his list of priorities and so it’s no coincidence he’s still going strong.
“Jurgen Klopp has played him in virtually every position at Liverpool. You’d take 11 James Milners in your side, if that were possible.
“I first tried to get him on deadline day when he was less than three miles from Villa’s training ground and was told to go back to Leeds.
“He would have been very cheap then – about £4m, if I recall. I chased him again and kept going and when things weren’t working out for him at Newcastle we paid £12m for him. Not bad business.”
PREMIER LEAGUE chiefs have announced there was one positive case from 1,829 tests carried out last week.
It is another boost for Project Restart. The tests were conducted between Wednesday and Sunday, after players and staff had returned to games.
There has been a total of 12,057 tests and 18 positive tests from players and staff, which is encouraging news for the Premier League. EVERTON boss Carlo Ancelotti is in hot water with the Spanish tax man.
The Italian has been accused of not paying £904,000 (€1m) in taxes, which are linked to image rights cash earned during his time as Real Madrid boss in 2014-15.