The Guardian - Tireless on the pitch and conscientious off it, Liverpool’s old master is plodding steadily towards a place in football history
Emerson Royal is a £25m Brazil international and a specialist right-back. James Milner is a 35-year-old odd-job man who was playing Premier League football before Emma Raducanu and Harvey Elliott were born. On successive Saturdays, each was subjected to trial by Wilfried Zaha. Only one passed and it wasn’t the man bought from Barcelona last month.
Perhaps it is unfair to judge the Tottenham newcomer on the basis of a debut in which he was parachuted into a makeshift defence. And yet Milner was a late call-up for a new-look Liverpool back four on Saturday, charged with flanking the debutant Ibrahima Konaté. His immediate opponent was Zaha and the previous time that was the case, Milner was a youngster of 33 and he was sent off for fouling the speediest of wingers. When Zaha hit the post after a minute after he eluded Milner, this threatened to be a case of cruelty to the elderly. Continue reading...