James Milner: winning the Premier League is “damn hard”

With a puff of his cheeks and pause for reflection, James Milner admits it is “damn hard” to win a Premier League title.

Twice he achieved the feat on the final day of the season with Manchester City.

Now he is prepared for a hat-trick of dramatic finishes as he bids to upset his former club and end Liverpool’s long wait for top-flight success.

The Reds have been champions 18 times in their illustrious history, but not since 1990 have they been crowned kings of English football.

“It is always so hard to win the Premier League,” said Milner, the only title winner in the current Reds squad. “Two other times I won, it was the last game of the season. It looks like it will go down to the death again.  “There are so many changes in a title race, we’ve seen it so many times before. We won it at City against QPR in incredible fashion and seen changes in this title race as well.
“So much can happen in the five games we’ve got left. That is why everyone loves the Premier League. It is special any time you win the Premier League, to be honest. It is that damn hard to do.
“You are going up against what a lot of people have said is one of the best-ever Premier League teams in City.
“The players they have, the points they have, so for us to go toe-to-toe with them and get over the line, hopefully. But if not, you have to look back and say we have done everything we can – and go again next year.”
Liverpool have proved in recent weeks they will fight in every game for the results that will stop City retaining the title they won in record-breaking fashion last season.
A comeback win at Southampton, which followed late 2-1 wins over Fulham and Spurs, put them two points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side, who have a game in hand.
Fresh from their 2-0 midweek success over Porto in their Champions League last-eight first-leg tie, Milner’s men host Chelsea today in arguably their toughest game of the run-in.
It was the Blues who ultimately dashed Liverpool’s hopes in 2014 with a 2-0 win at Anfield, when Demba Ba’s crucial opener followed Steven Gerrard’s unfortunate slip.
That allowed City to pinch the title with a final-day win over West Ham – just as they had two years earlier thanks to Sergio Aguero’s iconic injury-time strike over QPR.
Milner played his part in both those triumphs for the Etihad outfit, but there are no divided loyalties for the 33-year-old this time around.
“There will not be any tug of emotion,” he added. “Not on that side.
“I had a great five years there, won every trophy in England. There’s no extra motivation. The motivation is to beat a very good team.
“Just to win the Premier League again would be amazing. It will be very difficult.
“The way we do that is concentrate on our own games. Of course they are in the driving seat. We could win all our games and it’s not enough, but it’s down to us to keep putting pressure on them and getting results.