TRENT CAN GO GLOBAL
Milner: Liverpool ace Alexander-arnold will be a world force
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JAMES MILNER says Liverpool could have a global superstar on their hands in young defender Trent Alexander-arnold.
Old-hand Milner (left with Alexanderarnold) reckons there’s no limit to what heights the 21-year-old local lad can reach for both club and country.
Alexander-arnold turned in a starring role on Boxing Day as Liverpool crushed closest rivals Leicester to move 13 points clear at the top of the table.
Massive
The kid from West Derby made two and scored one himself as Jurgen Klopp’s (right) men destroyed Leicester 4-0.
Next up are Wolves today as Milner and Co try to keep the Merseysiders’ unbeaten league run going.
Milner said: “Trent can be very good. He’s pretty good now, isn’t he? When you see the amount of games he’s played and occasions he’s played in: Champions League finals, big games, pushing for the league title.
“There’s a lot more to come from him.
He’s going to make mistakes and will have to bounce back from them. You get disappointments. The manager has taken him out of the team at times, but he always shows the right attitude.
“He knows it’s for his benefit or the benefit of the team. His mentality is absolutely spot on and his ability is incredible.
“I think there’s a lot more to come from him and he will keep on improving and be a massive player for Liverpool for many years to come.”
Milner, 34 next week, believes the raiding full-back has the potential to become one of the truly great players.
He added: “There’s a long way to go and we don’t want him to become a big-head, but he won’t because there’s plenty of people around him in this dressing room that, if he does, they will pop it straight away.
“For me, one of the most impressive things about him is his mentality. You can admire him ability-wise, but his mentality is also great.
“He’s got a great attitude and that’s so important.
“He will keep improving and, if he keeps doing what he’s doing now for the foreseeable future, given how young he is, he’ll have people talking about him for a long, long time.”
Right now Milner and his young charge are hell-bent on ending Anfield’s 30-year wait to be crowned champions.
A lot of people are saying that the title race is already over, but Milner is not having any of that.
“As long as none of those people are over in Melwood, then we will be fine,” he added. “We literally look no further than the next game.
“That’s drilled into us. It’s a strength and it’s important, especially in this day and age when every time you open your phone there are bulletins and newspaper articles and social media, so you have to be even better at dealing with that and this squad is really good at it.”
But Milner says the players can feel a sense of trust from the terraces that they are going about things the right way.
Expectation
“The expectation is there, but it’s shifted. We want it bad and the supporters want it more with the wait they’ve had and how close we’ve come before,” he said.
“That’s why we want to play for Liverpool because it’s a massive club and that expectation is there.
“But you feel more of a trust around Anfield now within the team and you can feel it from the stands. We know how badly they want it.
“But we feel like they are completely with us and there’s a trust in the squad, which is maybe different to seasons before, and, hopefully, we can repay them