The spurious point that Milner is slow? Hmm silly me ... I expect to see Milner do 100m sprint at the next olympics.
Thanks MITO - you kept me entertained whilst I wait for my dentist appointment. Always good winding you up I almost believed you when you said Milner isn’t slow lol. You’re a good egg
obviously if he wants to enter he could. i note once again you've ****ed up... you havent said win the 100m at Olympics
Milner henderson gini out of those 3 last season, Milner was the best. This season, he started the season in the best form, and everyone was in agreement with this. Maybe dipped a bit recently but he hasn’t had a rest. Hes versatile in that he can provide cover in numerous positions as well and is clearly a very well respected and consummate pro. Doesnt matter if he’s slow? I’ve never seen Kroos, Xavi or Alonso go past anything but a gentle jog, still 3 of best midfielders in the world. Milners not in the team team to be quick, hes in there to provide support and energy as well as quality on the ball, all of which he has. Is he the best midfielder in the league? Obviously not, does he make the team ahead of henderson, Gini and Keita on form? Absolutely.
Milner was woeful defensively against a Palace team that obviously targeted him, however he was very good attacking, was always an outlet in the first half and was his clever run that made Salahs 2nd. I wouldnt even blame him for his red card as the **** pass for his 2nd yellow didnt give him a choice. He has never been particularly fast, which hasnt affected his midfield game. He arguably should be in our starting midfield but clearly RB is not his position. Not that he would ever grumble about that, top professional
I just want to point a few facts out here... not to be controversial but to show the actual facts of the case. James milner has played 19 league games, and 5 CL games for us. He however totals 1231 mins in league and 418 in CL . in other words thats an average of 64mins in league over his games. from september to start of December he played only 3 league matches from more than 45mins (chelsea, arsenal, huddersfield) What does this tell you? a) Klopp saves milner for the bigger games like CL and big games. he is managing the players minutes to keep him for the games he needs him in. Again look at december he was actually injured and missed 3 games totally Look at 2017/18 milner played 32 league games and got 1763 minutes.... however once can was injured etc..... well he was used more. that's an average btw of 55 mins per game. compare to windy... he played 33, started 27 of them and got 2387mins = 72mins per game. compare to henderson who was injured a bit. 27 games, started 25 but gor 2172 mins = 80mins per game. Its clear to me milner is important to klopp but managed sparingly to keep him going. 1 game a week plus maybe a sub cameo. IF he stays IMO he will play less next year. BUT thats no reason to say no to keeping him.
exactly! Unlike other players we have seen clearly slow down over time and just not be up to it (dirk kuyt was one example you coudl clearly see he started slow but he was really struggling in his last year) Milner has not markedly slowed down YET. never a speed demon anyway. Speed is not the issue. its what can he offer the club for 10 or 15 games as a 34 year old. IMO having him in match day squad alone ups the levels. great pro. But.... is he worth 120k per weekfor another 12 months for 10/15 games? thats a separate arguement. We WILL be in CL next year. we only need 15 more points to be sure. thats one big reason to keep him. Theres league cup and FA cup games (one off by the look fo klopp grrrrr) IF he wants to go to leeds fine but theres no real reason to chuck a reliable player who might be needed as a sub to take a pen for example cos jimmy doesn't like him.
Hmm if you’re looking at the current lot - you may have a case but I’d still argue Gini has been better. Milner had a good start to the season but has been dross since. You can’t say he deserves to start based on form.
Worth adding that he was being protected by Hendo and had Matip to the side of him too, neither are great imo