Why aren’t we talking about James Milner?

All the talk before Liverpool played West Ham was about Naby Keita or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but why didn’t James Milner mention the conversation?

Jordan Henderson was badly missed on Monday night. His leadership, his rockets, the way he plays the game. If anything, Henderson enhanced his Player of the Year prospects by not taking part in the 3-2 win.

Naby Keita was the chosen replacement, but he flopped and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was sent on instead of help save the day. All of the pre-game conversation centered around which exciting midfielder was going to resume the Hendo role.

Oxlade-Chamberlain ended up grabbing the headlines for his dynamic introduction to the game but it should have been Milner who dominated the conversation – and he would have started if it wasn’t for a minor muscle niggle.

Jurgen Klopp loves to pick players who are passionate, tidy in possession and bring leadership skills to the engine room. Without banging the drum too much, or overlooking Henderson’s better qualities, these are the things we’ve associated with him the most.

Klopp also loves to select James Milner for the big games, or games when he feels that extra experience will be vital. In front of a flat Anfield, that would have been vital.

Instead of focusing on the exciting, luxury players, we should have been thinking properly about it. Yes – it’s great to have Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain in the squad and their time will surely come (or maybe not, Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho have their spots on lock down) – but sometimes we are guilty of getting a little bit ahead of ourselves.

With Watford and Bournemouth in the Premier League and Chelsea in the FA Cup, Milner could nail down that third starting spot in midfield and leave the Ox and Keita kicking their heels on the bench.