Glenn Murray has claimed that Liverpool midfielder James Milner is making ‘Cristiano Ronaldo look even worse’ after the Manchester United star’s headline-making interview with Piers Morgan, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Over the weekend, whilst Ronaldo was missing for Man United during their win over Fulham, another older figure in the Premier League, was making his 600th appearance in England’s top-flight as Liverpool beat Southampton.
At 36, former Brighton striker Murray thinks Milner is setting the right example, where other teams would more than happily take him on board, but the same can’t be said for Ronaldo, who he thinks has ‘closed doors around him’.
Both Milner and Ronaldo, who is 37, are two of the older heads in the Premier League and they were on the big stage during the early 2000s.
Fast forward to the present and it’s a credit to the duo that they are still going at such a high level.
But, in light of Ronaldo’s interview where he seemed to slate everyone at Old Trafford bar himself, former Premier League striker Murray thinks there is a stark difference between the multiple Ballon d’Or winner and the low-key figure of Milner.
“It makes Ronaldo look even worse leading into this story, doesn’t it?” said Murray. “600 appearances. Everything good you can say about James Milner.
“I was reading something about an evaluation when he was 12, so it was in 1998, and even then, it said ‘natural leader, sets good examples, a great attitude and very confident’.
“24 years later, you can actually say exactly the same about him. For me, we question Cristiano Ronaldo about not evolving as you demise as a footballer, which is natural as a footballer. He, for me, has evolved through a massive change in football. Technically, tactically and physically.
“But also you can start to see him nurture people around him and that is the right way to end a football career, not that it is at the end yet – I think his whole demeanour opens up a lot of options for him, but whereas what we say with Ronaldo, it has closed a lot of doors on him. No-one wants to take him when you act like that.
“Milner, week in and week out, he does as he is told. He is a team player. Why wouldn’t you take him on to drop those pearls of wisdom in the team around him.”
MILNER IS ONE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE’S MOST UNDERRATED
From that fresh-faced teenager that repped the colours of his boyhood club at Elland Road to that experienced head that pushed Liverpool to their first title in 30 years.
When Milner hangs up his boots, he will go down as a Premier League legend and one of the most underrated figures to have played in English football.
The calibre of clubs he has played for – Leeds, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City and now Liverpool – also looks seriously pretty and dominant on his CV.
But the end of the road hasn’t come yet for Milner because he is proving that he has plenty of life in his footballing locker yet.
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