Milner wants Liverpool to be ‘serial winners’ in years ahead
LIVERPOOL midfielder James Milner insists the players are driven by the desire to be serial trophy winners and to not be remembered solely for their Champions League triumph.
June’s victory over Tottenham in Madrid was only the club’s second piece of silverware in 13 years, but the Reds’ vice-captain said that should be the starting point.
Favourites Liverpool, 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League as they seek to end their 30-year wait for a domestic title, are bidding this week to win the one trophy which has so far eluded them – the Club World Cup.
They will play Brazilian side Flamenco in the final, if they can get past Monterrey this evening
And Milner, who signed a new contract to 2022 last week to underline
his long-term ambitions, believes a winning habit is pushing the squad forward.
“Since I have been at the club it was important for the club to get that first trophy on the board,” said the midfielder, who also lifted the European Super Cup with the club at the start of the season.
“We had been unfortunate in a few finals, but the team has moved on and we have heard many people talk about it. We don’t want to be remembered as the team who won one major trophy. We want people to remember us as a group and forget which year we won each trophy.
“This is the trophy the club have not won, so it would be nice to have that. Hopefully we can add that.”
Liverpool fielded a youth team in last night’s 5-0 Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat at Aston Villa, ahead of the game with Monterrey in Doha.
Manager Jurgen Klopp said: “We had to make a decision. We knew first we would be invited to the Club World Cup before we knew how far we’d go in the Carabao Cup. We are here. We don’t fly 3,000 miles, we don’t fly the distance not to show up.”