James Milner

[adeinchessy]

I don't understand all the comments about Milner lacking awareness or not being skillful enough or failing with the final ball. Firstly, everybody in the team is capable of playing badly at times. Navas has a reputation for providing great crosses - and he often does - but he also produces a poor final pass sometimes - even Merlin does.

I'd be interested to see some stats on the number of assists or goal scoring opportunities that Jimmy makes per game.

Also, someone commented that he can't cope with teams that park the bus - a reference to his lack of creativity I assume. Can I suggest that you watch the highlights of the game against Fulham. At 0-0 it was Jimmy who provided the pass for Negredo to win the penalty. It was Jimmy who provided the pass for Silva to win the penalty. It was Jimmy who provided the pass for Kolarov to hit the bar. In fact, see how many of the chances to score he was involved in and tell me he's not creative.

I'm not saying he's as brilliant as David or YaYa or Nasri, but he's worth his place in this team and he won't let us down in the derby

 

[mmc]

This season he seems a lot closer to the level we want to be at, obviously not enough to be starting consistently. His work rate etc is valuable for the role he is in, but in reality he isn't on silvas/nasris wavelength. The technical side of his game has improved a lot this season though. I hope we keep him and play him more if am honest. He works well with kolarov on the left specifically, also makes kolarov look better as a result.

 

[burning blue soul]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citytv/Match-highlights/2014/March/City-v-Fulham-Barclays-Premier-League-extended-match-highlights" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citytv/Match-high ... highlights</a>

i suggest some of you people on here who think milner is just a plodder should watch the extended highlights of the fulham game.

watch carefully and not only does e have some great play and attempts at goal - he actually has a hand in 4 out of the 5 goals we scored. try counting the amount of time the commentator says "milner"

if this boy had a foreign name he would be up there with Zaba with you lot!!!

the guy is a quality player, no doubt.

 

[stonerblue]

It's a strange one with Milner, because you don't want to slag him off because he's such a likeable character. For the record, I do want us to keep him as a utility squad player, he's absolutely ideal for that.

But as Zin says, the intricacies of the modern game seem to by pass a lot of fans. They see the work rate and the bluster, and they assume that means someone is having a top game. The same fans who adore Milner are the same fans who hated Robinho because he didn't "track back."

I have yet to hear any Milner fan talk of the qualities he has that make him a top player. They just refer to workrate, and seem to think technique and football intelligence are insignificant things that "those foreign players with fancy dan names" have.

The reason Milner is so popular is because people see themselves in him. He could play for your Sunday league side, always be there on time, help put the nets up, play wherever you ask, put in a decent shift, he'd even jump in if it kicked off. Ask him to dictate the game from the middle against Arsenal though, it would be a different story.

I suppose the question is does he look out of place against the top teams? Does he go missing?

For me both answers are no.

Don't think anyone is saying he is the best at what he does but he has plenty of other attributes that a lot of players with similar ability couldn't bring us, just a shame to say one of them is that he's English and is probably only in the squad to fill a quota.

Funnily enough, I think he's better against good sides. He always plays well against the rags, was very good against Chelsea, and I picked him in my team for the Barca away game.

The running theme in those games though is that he is being used as a wide midfielder, primarily to do a defensive job. He's excellent at doing that, probably the best player in the league in fact at that job.

But unfortunately, in the vast majority of games we don't need a defensive wide midfielder. He's not creative or quick witted enough to play as an attacking player against a stubborn side who park the bus. And he's not got the qualities to play central midfield against any half decent team.

No7
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPniW0X1qFw[/youtube]

 

[samharris]

I think we all agree that Jimmy is a great squad player to have..

Hope he stays..

 

[uwe rosler 28]

My biggest worry is that we let him go and replace him with a winger who has the eye catching skills but offers nothing defensively.

If we do let him go which is what I suspect, we'd have to buy Alexis Sanchez or Gareth Bale.

Jimmy does not want to leave city don't want him to leave I don't see the problem he's already stated that he's happy with the amount of game time he is getting its not affecting his international career and he's winning trophies and earning good money he will be a city player next season.

 

[samharris]

I suppose the question is does he look out of place against the top teams? Does he go missing?

For me both answers are no.

Don't think anyone is saying he is the best at what he does but he has plenty of other attributes that a lot of players with similar ability couldn't bring us, just a shame to say one of them is that he's English and is probably only in the squad to fill a quota.

Funnily enough, I think he's better against good sides. He always plays well against the rags, was very good against Chelsea, and I picked him in my team for the Barca away game.

The running theme in those games though is that he is being used as a wide midfielder, primarily to do a defensive job. He's excellent at doing that, probably the best player in the league in fact at that job.

But unfortunately, in the vast majority of games we don't need a defensive wide midfielder. He's not creative or quick witted enough to play as an attacking player against a stubborn side who park the bus. And he's not got the qualities to play central midfield against any half decent team.

No7
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPniW0X1qFw[/youtube]

Just realised that the Fern goal was almost a carbon copy of the Aguerooooooooooooooooooooooo goal ;) Almost :)

 

[Shaelumstash]

I suppose the question is does he look out of place against the top teams? Does he go missing?

For me both answers are no.

Don't think anyone is saying he is the best at what he does but he has plenty of other attributes that a lot of players with similar ability couldn't bring us, just a shame to say one of them is that he's English and is probably only in the squad to fill a quota.

Funnily enough, I think he's better against good sides. He always plays well against the rags, was very good against Chelsea, and I picked him in my team for the Barca away game.

The running theme in those games though is that he is being used as a wide midfielder, primarily to do a defensive job. He's excellent at doing that, probably the best player in the league in fact at that job.

But unfortunately, in the vast majority of games we don't need a defensive wide midfielder. He's not creative or quick witted enough to play as an attacking player against a stubborn side who park the bus. And he's not got the qualities to play central midfield against any half decent team.

No7
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPniW0X1qFw[/youtube]

I'm pretty sure football is usually played over 90 odd minutes, not 4 and a half. You can't judge a players overall contribution based on 4 minute highlights. The clue is in the word "highlights" they show you the best bits of a players contribution.

There are no "Lowlights" videos, and if there was it would show you Milner dithering on the ball, misplacing passes, making the wrong runs, choosing the wrong passes and so on.

Judging a player on highlights is why so many casual City fans, and general football fans thought Adam Johnson was a world beater. His highlights on MOTD made it look like he was world class, beating defenders, putting good crosses in, creating chances, scoring goals. The fans who went to the game though will tell you a different story about Johnson. He used to hide, do absolutely nothing for 85 minutes of a game, one trick pony.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citytv/Match-highlights/2014/March/City-v-Fulham-Barclays-Premier-League-extended-match-highlights

i suggest some of you people on here who think milner is just a plodder should watch the extended highlights of the fulham game.

watch carefully and not only does e have some great play and attempts at goal - he actually has a hand in 4 out of the 5 goals we scored. try counting the amount of time the commentator says "milner"

if this boy had a foreign name he would be up there with Zaba with you lot!!!

the guy is a quality player, no doubt.

In the first half against Fulham he received a load of ball on the right hand side, and he cost us our momentum. He isn't a natural at the one touch, pass and move game, which is the rock we built this season on. He takes a touch or two and invariably comes inside and plays a simple ball. In some ways this is clever play from him, because he's not particularly quick and can't get past people, and he can't thread a ball through the eye of a needle like silva or Nasri can, so he's playing to his strengths. But when he plays to his strengths, city don't.

He has a roll, as well as just a squad player. If the opposition have a significant wide thread, particularly from full backs, then his steel and strength shores us up.

 

[Aguero_Element]

milner set up both penalties and played fine.

dont you think you are wasting your time trying to put down a player that is just gonna keep getting better and better.