James Milner’s time at left back is almost up- well at least it should be. For a short time on Wednesday night, Milner and Liverpool’s tactics were found out in a very big way. Liverpool could have seen the tie swing to Southampton much earlier than it ultimately did.
For many, you might have missed what happened. The Saints set up with winger Nathan Redmond, the man who scored the only goal of the first leg, on the right wing against Milner. Inside the first 20 minutes, Milner was hassled and closed down numerous times by Redmond.
On two or three different occasions, the makeshift left back lost the ball. But the most worrying part was how. For anyone that has watched a lot of the Reds this season, you know what Milner does. Milner is adequate with his left foot, but he is not great with it.
Milner allows the ball onto his right foot by backing all the way to the touch line. He then will lift a ball over the top with his right foot. Almost every time when close to central midfield. Redmond figured this out, and it’s a real wonder that Claude Puel switched him with Dusan Tadic.
Milner has done a great job there, but Liverpool must move on now. It will become a major liability if other sides put a fast, hard working player on top of him to nullify his threat.
