James Milner calls on his teammates to bounce back from a blip
It hasn’t been a good start to the new year for Liverpool and James Milner has called on his teammates to bounce back from the sudden dip in form.
Jurgen Klopp’s men went into 2019, seven points clear of Manchester City at the top, but that lead was narrowed to four points when the Citizens ended Liverpool’s unbeaten run with a 2-1 victory.
And the blip continued for Liverpool as the Reds crashed out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 defeat against Wolves.
“We have to make sure we bounce back and look at where we can get better,” said the vice-captain, with a trip to Brighton and Hove Albion up next this Saturday.
“You’re never going to go a full season without having blips. I think at the start of this season we weren’t playing our best but we were getting results.
“[It’s] back-to-back defeats now, which really isn’t good enough for us, but you have blips in a season. It’s about how you respond.
“I think you’ve seen the character in the squad in the last few years, and the players we have, to know we will bounce back.
“We have to show that, though. It’s easy saying it in an interview, we have to do it on the pitch at the weekend.
“The games keep coming thick and fast and hopefully we can get a few of the injured lads back as well.
“When you’re a team like us, with the players we have, you want to win every single game,” said Milner.
James Milner was caught in possession as Raul Jimenez raced past the defenders to put Wolves in the driver’s seat before Divock Orogi restored parity for the Reds early in the second half. However, Ruben Neves perfectly executed one of his screamers to score the winner just four minutes after Origi’s equaliser.
“We’re disappointed to not win and go through. We want to progress in every game we play.
“There were changes but we all train together all the time. I think we just didn’t get going really, didn’t get the passing going, just weren’t quite at our level.
“It was always going to be a tough game; they’re a good team, well organised. It’s not an easy place to come, we knew that from the game a few weeks back.
“I should have done better. The pitch all night was a bit tricky and balls were a bit lively, but it’s the same for both teams.
“It wasn’t as easy to get the passing going in those tight areas as we would have liked, but it was my mistake for the first goal and it cost us ultimately. Without that maybe it’s 1-1 and we get a replay.”
