Garth Crooks has raved about Liverpool star James Milner on BBC Sport, and has said that the Anfield ace surprised him when he was at Manchester City.
The former Tottenham Hotspur forward made the comments while including Milner in his BBC Premier League Team of the Week for his performance for Liverpool against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Milner, who can also play as a midfielder or as a winger, started at right-back against Palace and kept winger Wilfried Zaha quiet.
The 35-year-old Englishman took one shot, played one key pass, had a pass accuracy of 84.9%, made two headers, took 117 touches, attempted one dribble, made four tackles, three interceptions and four clearances, and put in 13 corners.
Liverpool won 3-0.
Crooks wrote about Milner on BBC Sport: “I remember this player playing for Newcastle United and thinking he’s a grafter. By the time he got to Aston Villa he had become a driving force but what he achieved at Manchester City surprised the hell out of me.
“However, as a Liverpool player, James Milner has been a giant. Not only was he instrumental in seeing Jurgen Klopp’s safe transition into Liverpool Football Club as his captain, but Klopp is now repaying the dedication and service he has shown to him and the club by retaining his services when they didn’t really have to. Against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, we all saw why.”
Evergreen player
Milner is obviously not going to play too many games this season, but the fact that he could slot in at right-back in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold and produce a marvellous display shows just how good he is.
The Englishman – – who earns £140,000 per week as salary, according to Spotrac – won the Premier League title twice and the FA Cup once during his time at City.
So far at Liverpool, Milner has won the Premier League title and the Champions League once each.
Milner joined Liverpool back in the summer of 2015 on a free transfer when Brendan Rodgers was in charge of the Reds.
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