James Milner has opened up on why Liverpool’s history made the third Premier League win of his career particularly ‘special’.
The Yorkshireman already had two top-flight titles under his belt when he joined the Reds from Manchester City on a free transfer in the summer of 2015.
But in helping Jurgen Klopp’s team lift the trophy this term, he also played a part in ending a 30-year wait for a league championship for one of England’s biggest clubs.
And that made things all the more enjoyable, Milner has revealed.
“It’s always special as it’s incredibly difficult to do,” he told the club’s official website.
“But how long this club has waited and how desperate they were for it, you see the history, all the times they’ve won it before and the Wall of Champions.
“I’ve said a number of times to you guys how desperate I was to change the numbers on that board and to be able to do it a few times in a year is great and special.
“It’s special when you’re driving around the city and seeing the flags outside people’s houses and how much it means to everyone. It means a lot to us because it’s what we’ve been striving to achieve as a group.
“The fans have waited so long and you think of the different generations: people have seen it before and have been desperate for it to happen again; fans who weren’t born the last time it happened and have heard about all this success but have never seen it themselves.
“When you think about those generations, it does make it special and you feel proud to be a part of it.”
Of course, while Milner is keen to celebrate this year’s success, he also already has one eye on ensuring Liverpool can add to their trophy haul next term.
“I think it’s getting that balance right,” he added.
“We have to enjoy it because we know how hard it is to win trophies, we’ve been very good to do it but also lucky to win the amount of trophies we have had this year.
“Trent [Alexander-Arnold] thinks it’s absolutely easy! He just turns up and wins trophies every year! But I can assure you, with the amount of years I’ve had in my career, it’s not that easy. The amount of training sessions in the rain, the times when you’re injured and that sick feeling you get when you lose a game or even a five-a-side at Melwood.
“We’re shocking losers, all of us. When you win something, you have to enjoy it. That’s what it’s all there for, that’s the hard work and you look at the teams you have beaten to get there – it’s an incredible achievement.
“But it’s a short career and you don’t want to waste a season or two seasons thinking, ‘We were that good a team but we took our eye off the ball and didn’t deliver.’ That would be criminal and something we definitely don’t want to look back at.
“We have a couple of weeks to enjoy this and enjoy being champions and then, as soon as next season starts, it’s down to the fans to carry on enjoying it and enjoy being champions for us.
“We have to do our job, get on that field and be even better. If we’re at the level we’re at now next season, it won’t be good enough.”
