I'm not too surprised he is not playing now but the way he was dropped and when he was dropped would never stop to frustrate me.

Milner was dire in his last 2 starts away at Villa and Sporting-his touch had completely deserted him.

De Jong is fresher and much better in that role.

I do expect a start at Stoke though.

Good player.

I still don't understand why we paid what we did for him, though.

Horse poo.Jimmy Milner is a model pro.

Might have something to do with his last two games were he was was the worst player on the pitch..

One of the journos tweeted after the game on Wed that Jimmy was doing warm downs on his own on the pitch. Fantastic attitude.
Whilst I understand he may be frustrated, he'll never throw his toys out the pram.
Would like to see him start tomorrow in place of NDJ.

He's just not good enough to play centre mid for us. He takes too long to control the ball, look up, make a decision, and make a pass. He slows us down. De Jong has the same problem because he always plays square, but he is probably our best midfielder when we don't have possession, he reads the game so well and is brilliant in the tackle.

I'd definitely play Milner wide right ahead of Johnson though, and think he may start there against Stoke. But the thought of Milner replacing Silva or Nasri for long periods makes me feel a bit sick.

behave

we dont play 40 yard passes, he is not suited to our short passing game he is technical gifted enough

Yes.

James Milner in the team = work rate and desire from one box to another for 90 minutes.
James Milner not in the team = nobody else does this whatsoever!

James Milner in the team = good away form
James Milner not in the team = poor away form!