GRAEME SOUNESS – a man revered for an iron will to win at Liverpool – was once quoted as questioning how many players like James Milner you could field and expect to win trophies.
The Scot, who won an incredible five league titles and three European Cups at Anfield, later claimed it was misrepresentation of his thoughts while managing Milner at Newcastle and apologised.
Yet as the man with 524 Premier League appearances to his name prepares for the visit of former club Manchester City for a Sunday six-pointer, the view lives on and lingers. Many view Liverpool’s vice captain as a worker, a grafter; the man lifting the piano rather than playing it.
Job done – now to prepare for Sunday #YNWA #UCL pic.twitter.com/FeVb0XD0am
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) November 5, 2019
Lionel Messi, the man who made Milner YouTube famous for the wrong reasons with a Champions League nutmeg, went even further, labelling him a “burro” – a donkey. Managers, though, have a very different view.
Jurgen Klopp trusts Milner implicity, saying of him recently: “Exceptional, exceptional. It just sets the benchmark, that you’re 33 and doing things like this. Obviously age is no issue.”
In his 191 games for the Reds, Milner has faced no side more than Manchester City, clocking up 11 appearances against his former club. When it’s a big match that matters, managers come calling for players like James Milner.
Further, he has fulfilled a number of roles at Anfield, playing across the midfield as well as left back and right back. Liverpool’s preferred penalty taker has also found the net 25 times — six more goals than he scored for City, where he made 203 appearances.
It’s perhaps his record of assists that gives more of an indicator of his quality though. At City he teed up 45 goals. At Liverpool he’s on 39. And in the 2017/18 season he broke the Champions League record for the most number of assists in one campaign. It’s not bad for a player many perceive as graft over guile.
James Milner forever pic.twitter.com/MyTa8qeIiy
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) November 5, 2019
A residual bitterness from some City fans remains about his departure. Some question the decision to leave. Other ridiculously reference him celebrating a goal against them. Milner, who reportedly took a pay cut of around £15,000 per week to join Liverpool on a free transfer in July 2015, spoke of wanting to play more often in midfield as being among the reasons he left.
When City supporters saw him lining up at full-back in red, it again led to questions. Yet Milner has played in central midfield, his favoured position, 93 times for Liverpool – more than double the number he has registered in any other role for the Reds.
Throw in becoming a Champions League winner, and that he is now lining up for a side that is challenging for the Premier League for a second successive season, and it’s hard to see why the move is still an issue. It’s worth remembering City fought hard to retain his services, offering him a contract extension.
Then manager Manuel Pellegrini said of him: “Milner’s a phenomenon, a guy with big balls and a heart this big. Intelligent, great mentality, one of those players that when you leave him out you’re left with this feeling of injustice – it hurts because he should always play but sometimes you need a technical player with other characteristics.”
Few Liverpool fans would disagree, and his words still hold up as Milner keeps on keeping on. Now 33, the two-times winner of the Premier League continues to maintain peak fitness levels and talk is that he will sign a new deal despite a general reluctance to pay players of his age by Liverpool’s management.
Not only has James Milner been playing Premier League football for the last 17 years, he's currently doing it for the champions of Europe.
The man doesn't get enough respect.
— The Irish Guy (@the_irishguy) October 31, 2019
Perhaps a reason for that is not only his on-pitch contribution, which has been as good as anywhere across his time at Leeds, Newcastle, Aston Villa and City, but also what he brings off the pitch.
Past working cultures at Liverpool have not always been what they should be. Think men in white suits. Player power. Modelling contracts. Passing a pound coin in games and too many nights out. Plus talk of senior pros who were not at the fitness levels they should be.
Milner leads by example in a new age. He undoubtedly puts an arm around some, offers advice to others but he also just delivers consistent levels that set a mark for the younger players. A story did the rounds a couple of months back about the now departed Bobby Duncan.
The forward was training with the first team, and as he lined up a shot he was plonked on his backside by the evergreen Milner’s no-nonsense challenge. It was a symbolic moment. Duncan has now departed with a troublemaker tag hanging over his head.
Milner, the consummate pro, remains. And most around Anfield hope that is the case for many years to come.
