If you were to present James Milner with a truckload of bricks and a mixer full of cement, he would build you a house. It would not be the greatest house on the street, but it would have a roof and four walls, it would not admit draughts and it would never leak in the winter.
If you were to present Milner with a guitar and an evocative reminder of a lover lost, he would write you a ballad. It would not be the greatest ballad you've ever heard, but it would have three verses and a chorus, it would set your feet tapping and it might just remind you of someone you thought you'd forgotten.