Topic: James Milner - El Burro Magnifico

[vinothmct]

Like the rest of his team mates his form has dropped in the last few games.

Not sure why he takes corners.

Like lot of our players . Needs a rest. Time out of team will help i guess.

Moreno needs to come in. I said it from start of season. Moreno has a mistake in him but he can help massively in attack. I hope we satrt playing him and move Milner to RW

[Funky_Gibbons]

Like lot of our players . Needs a rest. Time out of team will help i guess.

Moreno needs to come in. I said it from start of season. Moreno has a mistake in him but he can help massively in attack. I hope we satrt playing him and move Milner to RW

So Milner needs a rest by moving to right wing?

[vinothmct]

So Milner needs a rest by moving to right wing?

He needs time out of team 1st point.
If he does play . Play him at RW . He is far better than a lot of options we have .

[Funky_Gibbons]

He needs time out of team 1st point.
If he does play . Play him at RW . He is far better than a lot of options we have .

Not really, we don't play with wingers like Milner who stay wide. Our width is provided by the full backs.

[Groundskeeper Willie]

He needs to stop putting crosses in. I think we had 42 on Wednesday, wouldn't be surprised if Milner alone had half of them.

[Funky_Gibbons]

He needs to stop putting crosses in. I think we had 42 on Wednesday, wouldn't be surprised if Milner alone had half of them.

What makes you think it's not Klopp's instructions? He said after the game he was happy with how we played and we also put in a similar amount of crosses against Swansea and scored twice from them.

[Klippity Klopp]

Moreno has a mistake in him but he can help massively in attack.

Can't agree with that.

I don't see how Moreno offers more than Milner is attack.

He's naturally left footed and quicker.  But he can't pass, shoot or cross as well as Milner. 

[AaronSingh25]

He needs to stop putting crosses in. I think we had 42 on Wednesday, wouldn't be surprised if Milner alone had half of them.

Most were awful too. Didn't help that there was no anticipation of the crosses or any movement of any kind.

If Clyne is still struggling Moreno has to come back, and Milner to the right.

[smicer07]

Least of our worries and doing a great job.

[harryc]

Least of our worries and doing a great job.

Really..........with the parked buses it's the flanks where we are being directed by opposition managers because they know their is zero threat in terms of a decent cross or cut back from Milner and the other side.

[Byrneand]

Fair play to Milner this season and what a fantastic signing he's proven to be.

Not saying he's perfect... but what a job he's done for us.

[Phil M]

Deserves to be here next season. The man just gives it everything every time he goes on the pitch. Very very few games you could actually say he was poor or he made a defensive error. Plenty of above average performances and cool as fuck from the spot. Midfield and LB cover next season I should think. I don't see us starting the new season with Jimmy as a full back again but who knows.

[ToneLa]

The Kolo role of behind the scenes mentor and supersub would suit him well I reckon. Feel bad if we jib him off cause he's been good this season!

[Collymore]

One of the best left backs we have had for quite some time.

[FlashingBlade]

Player of the season for me despite defence being our biggest issue ( IMO).  He has had only a couple of poor games and delivered a consistantly good standard of performance, up and down the line like a Trojan. He's linked up brilliantly in attack , not to mention his pens.

His performance may not be as eye catching as others. I think he is well equiped to give us another year . The default position appears we need a new left back, as cover and challenge to Milner yes, but he is first choice in my back. Our other full backs fall way short of the standard Milner has set.

[JackWard33]

Slightly surprised to see such unequivocal praise for him - thought his limitations going forward were really evident in the second half of the season.
Of course his merits are obvious and laudable (amazing work ethic... consistency of effort etc) ... it would be good to have another option for the position though especially against teams that drop off.

[harryc]

I think it will be a huge mistake if Milner is our first choice LB next year, yeah we know he gives his all, typical blood and thunder British player!
Unfortunately that doesn't mask his limitations technically and more so as a LB.

Opposition RB's will be sleeping well in the thought of facing Jimmy next year.

[Fruity]

The thing is with Milner I remember he wasn't a bad winger when he was at Newcastle and Villa. I am sure Rafa was in for him way back. Based on the 2nd half of this season though you wouldn't have thought he had any wing play about him. I remember when we played city at home in 2013/14 season and he made a huge difference to that City side when he came on.

Maybe Fatigue might have caught up with him in the 2nd part of the season and also the fact that he doesn't have a Mane type player infront of him on the left. But definitely someone we should be keeping and has turned out to be a good reliable player.

[Anfield Ed]

I think it will be a huge mistake if Milner is our first choice LB next year, yeah we know he gives his all, typical blood and thunder British player!
Unfortunately that doesn't mask his limitations technically and more so as a LB.

Opposition RB's will be sleeping well in the thought of facing Jimmy next year.

Agreed - though I'd definitely keep him in the squad as he is only one of a handful of players in the squad who has a proven track record of having a strong mentality ALL THE TIME and in all moments.

[SerbianScouser]

Truly hope Klopp will try him next season as RB, really think he'd have a lot more to offer there. At the end I think you really want to find room in your team for a player who is as sensible, reliable and trustworthy as Milner.

[Caligula?]

Truly hope Klopp will try him next season as RB, really think he'd have a lot more to offer there. At the end I think you really want to find room in your team for a player who is as sensible, reliable and trustworthy as Milner.

Why on earth would he try him at RB when Clyne and TAA are ahead of him?

[M7 Heckler]

I think it will be a huge mistake if Milner is our first choice LB next year, yeah we know he gives his all, typical blood and thunder British player!
Unfortunately that doesn't mask his limitations technically and more so as a LB.

Opposition RB's will be sleeping well in the thought of facing Jimmy next year.

I wouldn't worry about that mate. He is going to be next seasons lucas. We will buy a proper LB and he will go straight in at first choice with joe Gomez as backup.

[Byrneand]

Hold on... No ones saying he's been the best back in the league or anything like that but he's been asked to play out of position, played pretty much every minute of the season, no grumbes, no support in front of him.

I think he's an absolute unsung hero.

If he'd not down that we would have gone and paid £10-20m on a left back, who may or may not have been up for it (probably not CL standard and so we'd have to be upgrading again this season). The lads played a blinder in my eyes this season.

There's no way he's going to starting LB next season, but he's come in and plugged a hole for us.

[fewmin' bedwetter]

Player of the season for me despite defence being our biggest issue ( IMO).  He has had only a couple of poor games and delivered a consistantly good standard of performance, up and down the line like a Trojan. He's linked up brilliantly in attack , not to mention his pens.

His performance may not be as eye catching as others. I think he is well equiped to give us another year . The default position appears we need a new left back, as cover and challenge to Milner yes, but he is first choice in my back. Our other full backs fall way short of the standard Milner has set.

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. At the same time, couldn't agree less with the default position, which seems to be "Milner can be a great back-up next season" or Milner "does a job until we get a left-footer to play there".

People are completely missing the quality of Milner's game there, which you outlined above. As I said in a previous post, have people forgotten Jamie Carragher in 2000-01, or World Cup winner Philip Lahm?

Hate to give examples from the other end of the East Lancs Road, but Phil Neville won six titles with that lot, most of them as a (right-footed) left-back. Oh, and guess who his predecessor was in that number three shirt, the winner of not six but seven league titles? A certain (right-footed) Denis Irwin.
Mr Ferguson didn't mind a right-footer playing in that position for more than a decade of their most successful (thankfully now historical) era, did he?

So, let's not all be too disappointed if Kloppo goes into next season with James Milner as his first choice in that position.

[M7 Heckler]

So, let's not all be too disappointed if Kloppo goes into next season with James Milner as his first choice in that position.

Surely a wind up

We badly lack a LB with pace. A new one will improve our team by more than just one position. It will transform our balance, enable us to use diagonals. Every week I see Milner out on the left wing in acres of space because the opposition know they'll get to him by the time he's in a dangerous area.

If we start next season with Milner at LB then the club have failed miserably.

[vivabobbygraham]

He'll make a great right back

[L.Suarez]

He'll make a great right back

Absolutely, hope  Klopp has this in mind, though he never tried him there this season even though Clyne was bang on average for big periods and his backup was 18 year old kid.

[Giono]

Truly hope Klopp will try him next season as RB, really think he'd have a lot more to offer there. At the end I think you really want to find room in your team for a player who is as sensible, reliable and trustworthy as Milner.

Good call. He'd offer more going forward than Clyne for sure on his natural right side. My main issue is him having to switch to his right foot all the time.

[moloch]

We badly lack a LB with pace.

Or a left peg.

[Frizzo]

Incredible season. Hugely valuable player.

If mignolet runs into poor form and karius can't step up, I'd back Milner to fill in there as well.

[Jookie]

If we start next season with Milner at LB then the club have failed miserably.

I'd expect to be disappointed if I was you.

Personally I'd be amazed with we buy 2 left backs this summer. If I was to hazard a guess, we'll buy one young left back to act as back up to Milner, with the aim to take the position more regularly in 2018/19. Think the same with RB and Clyne /TAA.

[Chalky Boots]

Solid season but I do hope he's not starting next season. Both him and Clyne need to up their game against teams that sit deep otherwise we'll have similar issues next season.

[M7 Heckler]

I'd expect to be disappointed if I was you.

Personally I'd be amazed with we buy 2 left backs this summer. If I was to hazard a guess, we'll buy one young left back to act as back up to Milner, with the aim to take the position more regularly in 2018/19. Think the same with RB and Clyne /TAA.

Please I can't even bare the thought of it. Tell you what mate, we will win fuck all with James Milner at LB next season. His limitations make everyone's job more difficult. Nothing against him as a man or a pro. We just have no left side at all with him in the team- There's not enough of a threat from him from an attacking point of view, but he's not good enough to defend on his own either.

First half of the season he was ok, often came into the game in the second half with a few step overs (we gave him the name Skillner) but for the second half of the season he was poor. Some matches he gave the ball away or kicked it out of play pretty much every time he touched the ball. It's actually been that bad. I couldn't put up with it for another year 

[Dim Glas]

I'd expect to be disappointed if I was you.

Personally I'd be amazed with we buy 2 left backs this summer. If I was to hazard a guess, we'll buy one young left back to act as back up to Milner, with the aim to take the position more regularly in 2018/19. Think the same with RB and Clyne /TAA.

yeah I think it'll be Milner and another.

It'll be fine too, as so long as it's a left back the manager trusts, it means Milner won't have run himself into the ground by January   New guy whoever he may be should get plenty of games too.

[Frizzo]

Christ some people on here would have you believe he was the reason we didn't win the league.

He was superb this season. He has his limitations but all players do. We should be raving about his season, not clamouring for his replacement.

[SwordInYourGut]

He should be playing RB not LB. Clyne's crossing is shocking anyway, so it won't make a difference to him if he is played on the other side. Milner on the other hand, can produce some serious quality from the right.

[Frizzo]

He should be playing RB not LB. Clyne's crossing is shocking anyway, so it won't make a difference to him if he is played on the other side. Milner on the other hand, can produce some serious quality from the right.

There's more to being a full back than crossing though. Your body shape is the complete opposite when making the same pass or tackle on the other side.

Some players it doesn't effect, some it does.

[vblfc]

He's not flashy, but Milner has contributed well this season and is great quality for our squad.  the right back idea as an option makes a load of sense because Milner can show more quality than Clyne going forward and for most of our games the fullbacks have basically been wingbacks. 
Milner and Mane would be good combo to try. 
Doesn't mean there is no place or lots of game time for Clyne, because Milner will also fill in for LB if injuries or suspensions hit, or midfield roles in smaller cup games etc.  he gives Klopp loads of options and will get plenty of game time.  I don't think he is the first name on the team sheet, but he can fill many roles.
I think we judge his performance too much based on the park the bus days when we lost our mojo - In those games the team looked lost for ideas and Milner was part of that, but he is quality, professional, has had couple of good season for us and great for options in the squad in my view.  Don't forget he was recently consistent in assists for us.
I like having him around, even from the bench, he can offer something to change the play.

[Anfield89]

Christ some people on here would have you believe he was the reason we didn't win the league.

He was superb this season. He has his limitations but all players do. We should be raving about his season, not clamouring for his replacement.

He's had a good season but he shouldn't be starting next season.

[Upinsmoke]

Christ some people on here would have you believe he was the reason we didn't win the league.

He was superb this season. He has his limitations but all players do. We should be raving about his season, not clamouring for his replacement.

He was very good first half of the season, quite poor second half. I think against the bigger teams, well those who want to make a game of it Milner is very good, but those who sit back and try and stifle the play he is not very good because he's right footed and continually comes inside making play super congested which is exactly what the opposition want us to do.