BETWEEN THEM, THEY HAVE amassed debts in excess of £150 million in the vain attempt to buy success but, on Saturday, the combined overdrafts of Leeds United and Chelsea were put into perspective by a boy still relying on Premiership pocket money. The match ended with the ball at James Milner’s feet; in time, the world should be there.
Unlike England’s other prodigiously talented teenager across the Pennines, Milner has the physique to match his birth certificate: slighter and without the stubble or the upraised studs that Wayne Rooney carries into battle with Everton. Milner turns 17 on Saturday and a cherubic face under a choirboy hairstyle suggests that he would smile and say good morning if you met him on the doorstep on his paper round. He even walked out of his way to shake hands with the officials at the final whistle. But there is no doubt he can play; deeper and wider than Rooney, perhaps, and with less raw pace, but with the same desire to display his talents, the same obvious sense of enjoyment and no less impact.
Terry Venables discovered as much the minute he walked into Elland Road in the summer and, if you wanted a more independent witness, then Marcel Desailly, one of the world’s most formidable centre halves, who was left on his backside as Milner polished off Chelsea with the second goal, might be happy to provide one.
“He’s very confident without being cocky — a pleasure to work with,” the Leeds manager said of Milner, his relief at a first home win in seven attempts giving way to undisguised glee at the jewel that his academy staff has unearthed on the club’s doorstep. “It’s very refreshing to see a young fella who knows the game like he does. He can turn people, go past them and he can finish — he’s got the lot in his locker. And he’s got no fear.”
There was certainly no trace of apprehension just before half-time, when Milner took Eirik Bakke’s pass in his stride, attacked Desailly and flummoxed the World Cup- winning colossus with two deft touches of his right foot before curling a beauty round Ed de Goey into the far corner of the net. And he is just as happy on his left. “He is scaring the life out of defenders,” Harry Kewell, the man whose dead leg paved the way for Milner’s early introduction as a substitute, said. “The first time I saw him in training, he took the ball past three defenders as if it was nothing. He has always had a spark about him and he’s got a football brain. He’s got a great future ahead of him.”
Frank Lampard, the Chelsea midfield player, acknowledged that a “great finish” had dented their title hopes and helped to turn Wednesday’s visit to face Arsenal from a “can’t lose” into a “must win” game. And Claudio Ranieri was happy to add his two euros’ worth on the boy of the moment. “Fantastic! Quick. Clever. Two feet. Fantastic! Well done!” the Chelsea head coach said through a broad smile that revealed gritted teeth. “He looks 30, not 16.”
But 16 Milner is, at least until next weekend, when his £80-a-week wages will get a tenfold increase as he signs his first professional contract. He will still be surrounded by team-mates who would not get out of bed for that sum, but that should not bother him. “He’s quiet in the dressing-room, but not overawed,” Venables said of a “really solid character”. After robbing Rooney of his claim to the title of youngest Premiership goalscorer with his near-post strike against Sunderland on Boxing Day, Milner apparently “just sat in the corner — the other players loved him for that”. Venables knows that Milner “will have days that are not so good” — he has had a few himself this season — but with Leeds having taken ten points out of 12, he could add: “Like Milner himself, it’s all very promising.”
It would not be Leeds, though, without a cloud appearing on the horizon. For all Milner’s efforts, after the outstanding Jonathan Woodgate had headed them in front against a Chelsea team whose 11-match unbeaten league run ended in disappointingly tame fashion, the other talking point was the conduct of Alan Smith, not so much for his tenth booking of the season, to go with eight red cards in his career — although his wild hack at Mario Stanic’s shins was bad enough — but for the elbow that he planted into Graeme Le Saux’s face as they jumped on the touchline. The incident was missed by Graham Barber, who had an otherwise sound match, and the referee’s assistants, but not by the television cameras and, therefore, not by the FA’s video advisory panel. A comparative veteran at 22, Smith could still learn a thing or two from Milner. Chelsea, meanwhile, know that they must regroup before New Year’s Day and the summit meeting with Arsenal if they are not to see their hopes of a first title since 1955 fade. They did not play badly on Saturday, but they lacked sharpness in both penalty areas and the fluency in midfield that has been their strength this season. “Sooner or later we knew it was going to happen. Now we must have a good reaction,” Ranieri said, admitting that his decision to make seven team changes — after making six for the previous match, a 0-0 draw against Southampton — had backfired badly by disrupting their rhythm and momentum. “I was wrong, the passing was wrong, the shooting was wrong. Everything was wrong,” he said. If he does not get it right at Highbury, the championship race may lose one of its leading contenders.
Leeds United (4-4-2): P Robinson 5 — G Kelly 6, D Mills 6, J Woodgate 8, T Lucic 5 — A Smith 6, E Bakke 6 (sub: S Johnson, 80min), P Okon 5, J Wilcox 5 — M Viduka 5 (sub: R Fowler, 83), H Kewell 6 (sub: J Milner, 31 7). Substitutes not used: N Martyn, M Duberry. Booked: Smith, Okon. NEXT: Birmingham City (h). FORM: WWDWLL
Chelsea (4-4-2): E de Goey 6 — A Ferrer 4 (sub: J F Hasselbaink, 46 4), W Gallas 5, M Desailly 5, G Le Saux 6 — J Gronkjaer 4 (sub: E De Lucas, 46 4), J Morris 4, F Lampard 5, M Stanic 5 — E Gudjohnsen 4, G Zola 4. Substitutes not used: L Pidgeley, C Babayaro, J Terry. NEXT: Arsenal (a). FORM: LDWDWW
Shots on target: (h) 6 (a) 4. Fouls: (h) 20 (a) 16. Offsides: (h) 8 (a) 4
