James Milner blasted Liverpool team-mates during Arsenal draw, says Klopp
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James Milner was the man who scored Liverpool’s goal in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Saturday and, according to Jürgen Klopp, it was also the midfielder who offered some stern words to fire up his team at half-time.

Milner gave Liverpool the lead just after the hour mark, only for Alexandre Lacazette to equalise in the latter stages. But while the game was a fun, intense contest for the neutral, the Liverpool manager spent much of the first half in a state of agitation, unhappy with what he deemed a substandard display from his team.

“You have a compact formation, you force [Arsenal] to pass the ball somewhere – that’s pressing, it’s not that complicated,” said Klopp. “The best way is to do it right from the first moment and then you can build on that, but we didn’t do it right from the first moment. That means there’s a time that it’s not there and we all felt like, ‘What the heck is here?’

“Milly was the one who saw it first and was quite – how can we say, was not happy – was animated. That’s good. That’s how it is in a dressing room, there is a lot of men, a lot of testosterone. One is talking – that’s me – and sometimes before I start talking the boys have a few words and that’s all. Milly is a proper leader.”


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Liverpool continued their record of never losing a game in which Milner scored, and while the summer arrivals of Naby Keïta and Fabinho might have suggested the 32-year-old’s days as a regular starter were numbered in the team, he has been among their best players this season. “Milly is like wine,” said Klopp. “A very good red one. I’m not sure if Leeds is famous for wine? He’s getting better. I think he should buy all of the newspapers and read this. I would like it if you write a story about James Milner.” Klopp then shifted from appreciation to heavy sarcasm. “Obviously someone might write that he [should] play for England again. That’s a really nice idea.”