Football
Tom Bell 8y

James Milner: Liverpool's young players have impressed

James Milner has praised the way Liverpool's young players have seized their chance in the first team and welcomed the added competition for places at Anfield.

Milner was a substitute in Tuesday's FA Cup fourth-round replay defeat at West Ham, which featured a number of faces more often seen in the club's under-21 side.

The likes of midfielders Kevin Stewart and Pedro Chirivella, left-back Brad Smith, centre-back Tiago Ilori and attacking midfielder Joao Teixeira looked comfortable against a Premier League-strength Hammers selection, being unfortunate to go down 2-1 courtesy of Angelo Ogbonna's winner in the dying seconds of extra time.

And Milner was impressed by what he saw after most of the same players -- plus Cameron Brannagan and winger Sheyi Ojo -- also shone in the initial game at Anfield and in the third-round tie and replay with Exeter City.

"It's always great to see them out there and performing very well," he told the club's official website. "To perform how they did over those two games [vs. West Ham] and when they've been called on this year is great.

"[It's] what we need as well, we've had a lot of injuries this year and you want those boys to come in and not just fill that spot for the time being but to push whoever's holding that shirt and be part of the squad, improve and become better players as well.

"We can help with that and ultimately they're the future of this club, so the more games they get, the more experience and the more they can learn, it's obviously better for everyone."

Now 30, Milner knows what it is like to make strides at a tender age, having become the youngest ever player to score in the Premier League when he was on target for Leeds United two months after his senior debut aged 16.

Next came spells at Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City before he moved to Anfield on a free transfer in 2015, and he highlighted mental toughness as a vital ingredient in determining which of Liverpool's young prospects will go on to similar things.

"You need the workrate and the will to learn but also that attitude is so important as well," Milner said. "Nobody's career [only] goes up, you have peaks and troughs and good times and bad times. You see a lot of promising young players and at the first sign of trouble -- a loss of form or being dropped -- you see them drop away and you might not see too much of them again.

"So it's important they have that strong mental side, that attitude; you're going to have managers who don't rate you, you're going to have knocks and injuries and things like that, but it's about having that determination to come through that, work hard and be strong enough to deal with the ups and downs."

^ Back to Top ^