James Milner

[teddykgb]

Mostly in his usual position on the right. Seemed like he and Nasri swapped a bit on a few occasions, and he ended up out on the left due to natural course of play, but he was essentially playing his typical position for us as an outside midfielder/winger type. Although a convincing argument could be made that he was playing as Sunderland's best defender.

 

[pass2silva]

he keeps it more often than not. The ones he gives away are 50-50. Headers and challenges. He can receive the ball the majority of the time and recycle it. The ones I've mentioned cannot, on occasion.

He gave it away more than anyone on Wednesday.

Milner did.

I love football - we both watched the same game, yet I though Negredo was actually ok. Sergio gave it away more than Negredo I thought.

At one stage Sergio just booted it into touch and stood there perplexed! :)

When Negredo was subbed, a caption popped up on the big screen very briefly. It showed that Negredo made 8 successful passes during the game, giving him a pass completion of something like 29%. That is awful!

 

[lasereyes]

He needs much more space than our technically better players, against better side you get that as they actually attack you, but against teams sitting back he just doesn't look good enough at all. All his best games have been against the better sides, I can't recall too many good performances against lesser sides. Great for pressing other teams defenders on the ball, great for breaks or for making runs in behind fullbacks, but if the space isn't there then he really struggles

Can you give an example other than yesterday of a bad game he's had? I can't think of one Generally he is very solid and on the right occasion, he is outstanding.

Before the second Bayern game, pretty much every game he played this season was awful. Can't remember specifics, but there were some awful cup games from him. He seemed to turn a corner after the Bayern game and improved hugely, until the Norwich game where he was poor again and disrupted the entire team (although he was in his supposed "best position" CM in that game) All the good memories I have of him have been against good teams

"Can't remember specifics" is telling, bud. If he was "awful in pretty much every game", you would remember specifics. We all remember exactly why Joe Hart was dropped and why Dzeko has been an object of derision. Truth is Milner has had a solid game virtually every time he has featured and Wed was an outlier - but he was hardly alone.

 

[Challenger1978]

Mostly in his usual position on the right. Seemed like he and Nasri swapped a bit on a few occasions, and he ended up out on the left due to natural course of play, but he was essentially playing his typical position for us as an outside midfielder/winger type. Although a convincing argument could be made that he was playing as Sunderland's best defender.

As i said before i didn't watch the game so i don't know how he played.

Anyway so everyone is condemning Milner and saying we should sell him based on the fact he had a shite game on the right side of the pitch. Even though we all know that he's ten times the player when he plays on the left and distinctly average at best when played on the right.

OK

 

[Chippy_boy]

This is the most insightful post on the thread. My pal said exactly the sane thing to me during the game last night, and you're both absolutely bang on.

Who are these 'technically better players' then?

Is that a serious question?

I laughed at that. I mean, who is NOT technically better? Lescott? Kolarov, possibly. /End of list.

I like Jimmie for his professionalism, commitment, workrate. He's a decent utility player who can be very good on his day. But he his a bit of a donkey tbf.

And he had an absolute stinker on Sunday. Truly truly awful. Shockingly awful.

 

[BigOscar]

Can you give an example other than yesterday of a bad game he's had? I can't think of one Generally he is very solid and on the right occasion, he is outstanding.

Before the second Bayern game, pretty much every game he played this season was awful. Can't remember specifics, but there were some awful cup games from him. He seemed to turn a corner after the Bayern game and improved hugely, until the Norwich game where he was poor again and disrupted the entire team (although he was in his supposed "best position" CM in that game) All the good memories I have of him have been against good teams

"Can't remember specifics" is telling, bud. If he was "awful in pretty much every game", you would remember specifics. We all remember exactly why Joe Hart was dropped and why Dzeko has been an object of derision. Truth is Milner has had a solid game virtually every time he has featured and Wed was an outlier - but he was hardly alone.

A goalkeeping error is obviously a lot more memorable than a winger just playing really badly. Fine, you've made me actually look up the games to see what games I'm thinking of, as there was a lot of frustration with him from a build up of poor performances. Here we go, games Milner started before the second Munich game

Stoke away 0-0
Villa away 2-3 (he as awful)
Everton home 3-1
Newcastle 2-0 aet (he was an absolute atrocity in normal time, along with a few others)
Sunderland 0-1 (almost as bad as he was the other night, with added defensive mistake to give them their goal)
Plzen home 4-2

 

[lasereyes]

Who are these 'technically better players' then?

Is that a serious question?

I laughed at that. I mean, who is NOT technically better? Lescott? Kolarov, possibly. /End of list.

I like Jimmie for his professionalism, commitment, workrate. He's a decent utility player who can be very good on his day. But he his a bit of a donkey tbf.

And he had an absolute stinker on Sunday. Truly awful in every way.

I don't know what you even mean by "technically better". It;s a cliche that seems to be rolled out whenever someone wants to criticize Milner, but can't cite specifics. Milner is an excellent fit for our squad - extremely consistent, industrious, creative - and a proven performer in big games. Compare someone like Nasri who is creative, but none of the others.

 

[Challenger1978]

Who are these 'technically better players' then?

Is that a serious question?

I laughed at that. I mean, who is NOT technically better? Lescott? Kolarov, possibly. /End of list.

I like Jimmie for his professionalism, commitment, workrate. He's a decent utility player who can be very good on his day. But he his a bit of a donkey tbf.

And he had an absolute stinker on Sunday. Truly truly awful. Shockingly awful.

Milner was shit against Liverpool ?

 

[Gabriel]

Milner tends to perform better when he is playing in a midfield alongside Nasri, Silva, and Toure. At that time, the weight of expectation on him is lifted and the others create space and pressure on defenders which provides him with time to perform. When the midfield contains players of a poorer quality, Milner is then expected to be more than he is- a disciplined and solid right-midfielder- and, consequently, this thread grows by a few pages.

 

[lasereyes]

Before the second Bayern game, pretty much every game he played this season was awful. Can't remember specifics, but there were some awful cup games from him. He seemed to turn a corner after the Bayern game and improved hugely, until the Norwich game where he was poor again and disrupted the entire team (although he was in his supposed "best position" CM in that game) All the good memories I have of him have been against good teams

"Can't remember specifics" is telling, bud. If he was "awful in pretty much every game", you would remember specifics. We all remember exactly why Joe Hart was dropped and why Dzeko has been an object of derision. Truth is Milner has had a solid game virtually every time he has featured and Wed was an outlier - but he was hardly alone.

A goalkeeping error is obviously a lot more memorable than a winger just playing really badly. Fine, you've made me actually look up the games to see what games I'm thinking of, as there was a lot of frustration with him from a build up of poor performances. Here we go, games Milner started before the second Munich game

Stoke away 0-0
Villa away 2-3 (he as awful)
Everton home 3-1
Newcastle 2-0 aet (he was an absolute atrocity in normal time, along with a few others)
Sunderland 0-1 (almost as bad as he was the other night, with added defensive mistake to give them their goal)
Plzen home 4-2

Sunderland game: he was fouled in the build up to their goal - no defensive mistake
Everton - you must have watched a different game. He was lively throughout and restricted Baines very effectively
Plzen - as Everton
Newcastle (league cup) - once he switched to central midfield (which i think is his best position), he was very effective and directly set up Dzeko's goal that won us the tie.
Villa and Stoke - I don't especially remember Milner's performance, so I will accept that he was not especially effective.

You also cited the Norwich game, where i remember Milner being one of our better players. Just to be sure, I cross checked with MEN and their assessment was "MILNER: Produced some fine work in his favoured central midfield position, solid and creative. 7"

So 5 out of 7 of the supposed stinkers you cited, I think you are flat-out wrong.

 

[TangerineSteve17]

I am totally uncomfortable criticising a performance from a player when it is so clear that they were busting a gut, trying their best, trying their utmost to win us a match.

Yes he had a bad game, but that's all it was. The overreaction here makes me cringe a little.

 

[TFC]

I am totally uncomfortable criticising a performance from a player when it is so clear that they were busting a gut, trying their best, trying their utmost to win us a match.

Yes he had a bad game, but that's all it was. The overreaction here makes me cringe a little.

Par for the course on bluemoon pal, the second coming and 'must start' after a good cameo against the dippers, utter gash after a bad game against Sunderland. Im surprised many on here can walk at all with all the knee jerking that goes on.

 

[teddykgb]

Mostly in his usual position on the right. Seemed like he and Nasri swapped a bit on a few occasions, and he ended up out on the left due to natural course of play, but he was essentially playing his typical position for us as an outside midfielder/winger type. Although a convincing argument could be made that he was playing as Sunderland's best defender.

As i said before i didn't watch the game so i don't know how he played.

Anyway so everyone is condemning Milner and saying we should sell him based on the fact he had a shite game on the right side of the pitch. Even though we all know that he's ten times the player when he plays on the left and distinctly average at best when played on the right.

OK

I don't know who "everyone" is but I'm certainly not a part of it. He was awful for a match, this happens. I think the tonality of this thread has been generally on the level. It was a really poor performance, but he's a good and useful player. Some people do go overboard on here saying that Milner should be the first name on the team sheet and all that, but I think most blues know he's a good player who works his ass off.

Btw, if you can find a gif of the left footed cross he made very late in the match, you'd not suggest he's any good on the left. It was almost laugh out loud poor. I think I actually said "what the fuck was that" at the TV.

 

[Challenger1978]

Mostly in his usual position on the right. Seemed like he and Nasri swapped a bit on a few occasions, and he ended up out on the left due to natural course of play, but he was essentially playing his typical position for us as an outside midfielder/winger type. Although a convincing argument could be made that he was playing as Sunderland's best defender.

As i said before i didn't watch the game so i don't know how he played.

Anyway so everyone is condemning Milner and saying we should sell him based on the fact he had a shite game on the right side of the pitch. Even though we all know that he's ten times the player when he plays on the left and distinctly average at best when played on the right.

OK

I don't know who "everyone" is but I'm certainly not a part of it. He was awful for a match, this happens. I think the tonality of this thread has been generally on the level. It was a really poor performance, but he's a good and useful player. Some people do go overboard on here saying that Milner should be the first name on the team sheet and all that, but I think most blues know he's a good player who works his ass off.

Btw, if you can find a gif of the left footed cross he made very late in the match, you'd not suggest he's any good on the left. It was almost laugh out loud poor. I think I actually said "what the fuck was that" at the TV.

I'm getting my wires crossed, i apologies about that, as selling Milner because he's shit is a running theme in several threads on the main board.

 

[BigOscar]

"Can't remember specifics" is telling, bud. If he was "awful in pretty much every game", you would remember specifics. We all remember exactly why Joe Hart was dropped and why Dzeko has been an object of derision. Truth is Milner has had a solid game virtually every time he has featured and Wed was an outlier - but he was hardly alone.

A goalkeeping error is obviously a lot more memorable than a winger just playing really badly. Fine, you've made me actually look up the games to see what games I'm thinking of, as there was a lot of frustration with him from a build up of poor performances. Here we go, games Milner started before the second Munich game

Stoke away 0-0
Villa away 2-3 (he as awful)
Everton home 3-1
Newcastle 2-0 aet (he was an absolute atrocity in normal time, along with a few others)
Sunderland 0-1 (almost as bad as he was the other night, with added defensive mistake to give them their goal)
Plzen home 4-2

Sunderland game: he was fouled in the build up to their goal - no defensive mistake
Everton - you must have watched a different game. He was lively throughout and restricted Baines very effectively
Plzen - as Everton
Newcastle (league cup) - once he switched to central midfield (which i think is his best position), he was very effective and directly set up Dzeko's goal that won us the tie.
Villa and Stoke - I don't especially remember Milner's performance, so I will accept that he was not especially effective.

You also cited the Norwich game, where i remember Milner being one of our better players. Just to be sure, I cross checked with MEN and their assessment was "MILNER: Produced some fine work in his favoured central midfield position, solid and creative. 7"

So 5 out of 7 of the supposed stinkers you cited, I think you are flat-out wrong.

You either have a very poor or very selective memory. He was absolutely woeful against Sunderland in the first game, so even if you declare he was faultless in their goal, (which is very dubious) he was still awful. As for the Norwich game, him playing in his "best position" (a phrase constantly thrown around on here, with very little to back it up) completely crippled our team, forcing Yaya to play in a restricted holding role and resulting in possibly our worst attacking performance all season.

As for the Plzen game, from what I remember, him and Micah spent the first half seeing who could out-donkey the other, constantly failing the very basics of football. He picked up his game in the second half and got an assist iirc, but he'd been really poor. (much like the Newcastle cup game, where we looked like a pub team for most of normal time, before finally getting ourselves together in ET)

It seems I also missed his other start before Bayern, against Southampton, where he was awful throughout before being hauled off after an hour.


By no means am I saying Milner is a bad player, but I refuse to buy into this belief that he is always outstanding and that the other night was his only poor performance all year. If you think of any game where we struggled to get any rhythm or looked disjointed going forwards, more often than not, Milner started. Our record when he has started games this year in the league has been far, far worse then when he hasn't, that's just a fact.

 

[TangerineSteve17]

Btw, if you can find a gif of the left footed cross he made very late in the match, you'd not suggest he's any good on the left. It was almost laugh out loud poor. I think I actually said "what the fuck was that" at the TV.

Here, but bear in mind, it's the 91st minute, he's bolloxed, and it's his left foot.

 

[lasereyes]

A goalkeeping error is obviously a lot more memorable than a winger just playing really badly. Fine, you've made me actually look up the games to see what games I'm thinking of, as there was a lot of frustration with him from a build up of poor performances. Here we go, games Milner started before the second Munich game

Stoke away 0-0
Villa away 2-3 (he as awful)
Everton home 3-1
Newcastle 2-0 aet (he was an absolute atrocity in normal time, along with a few others)
Sunderland 0-1 (almost as bad as he was the other night, with added defensive mistake to give them their goal)
Plzen home 4-2

Sunderland game: he was fouled in the build up to their goal - no defensive mistake
Everton - you must have watched a different game. He was lively throughout and restricted Baines very effectively
Plzen - as Everton
Newcastle (league cup) - once he switched to central midfield (which i think is his best position), he was very effective and directly set up Dzeko's goal that won us the tie.
Villa and Stoke - I don't especially remember Milner's performance, so I will accept that he was not especially effective.

You also cited the Norwich game, where i remember Milner being one of our better players. Just to be sure, I cross checked with MEN and their assessment was "MILNER: Produced some fine work in his favoured central midfield position, solid and creative. 7"

So 5 out of 7 of the supposed stinkers you cited, I think you are flat-out wrong.

You either have a very poor or very selective memory. He was absolutely woeful against Sunderland in the first game, so even if you declare he was faultless in their goal, (which is very dubious) he was still awful. As for the Norwich game, him playing in his "best position" (a phrase constantly thrown around on here, with very little to back it up) completely crippled our team, forcing Yaya to play in a restricted holding role and resulting in possibly our worst attacking performance all season.

As for the Plzen game, from what I remember, him and Micah spent the first half seeing who could out-donkey the other, constantly failing the very basics of football. He picked up his game in the second half and got an assist iirc, but he'd been really poor. (much like the Newcastle cup game, where we looked like a pub team for most of normal time, before finally getting ourselves together in ET)

It seems I also missed his other start before Bayern, against Southampton, where he was awful throughout before being hauled off after an hour.


By no means am I saying Milner is a bad player, but I refuse to buy into this belief that he is always outstanding and that the other night was his only poor performance all year. If you think of any game where we struggled to get any rhythm or looked disjointed going forwards, more often than not, Milner started. Our record when he has started games this year in the league has been far, far worse then when he hasn't, that's just a fact.

Firstly, those games are YOUR examples, so I'm not the one being selective.

To your other points:
- Bardsley fouling Milner: you are plain wrong on this and your failure to accept this reveals either a bias or you didn't watch the game. Here's the evidence if you care to look.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/did-phil-bardsley-foul-james-milner-just-before-scoring-sunderland-winner-v-man-city-gif/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/did-p ... -city-gif/</a>

- As for the game itself, Milner played decently and certainly no worse than the other midfielders. MEN rating was 6 - ahead of everyone else except Nasri (also 6).
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-1-manchester-city-0-6289778" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... -0-6289778</a>

- Norwich game. Saying he forced Toure to play a defensive role and crippled the team is bollocks. Toure simply failed to show up for that game and Milner was actually one of the few players to run at the opposition and pose some threat in an all round drab team performance.

- Plzen game: again, either your bias or a poor memory of the game. No idea where you got that stuff about him and Micah from. MEN rating: "7 MILNER Worked hard and sparked a couple of promising City moves"

As for your finale:
- "By no means am I saying Milner is a bad player" - actually that's pretty much exactly what you said. You said prior to the Bayern game, pretty much every game he was awful.
- "I refuse to buy into this belief that he is always outstanding" - I don't recall anyone saying anything remotely akin to this on Milner. My comment was very consistent, industrious, creative, and capable of big performances in big games.

 

[Chippy_boy]

Is that a serious question?

I laughed at that. I mean, who is NOT technically better? Lescott? Kolarov, possibly. /End of list.

I like Jimmie for his professionalism, commitment, workrate. He's a decent utility player who can be very good on his day. But he his a bit of a donkey tbf.

And he had an absolute stinker on Sunday. Truly truly awful. Shockingly awful.

Milner was shit against Liverpool ?

Sorry, silly mistake. I meant on Wednesday.

 

[DTKOAG]

A decent cross country runner.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Much better as a sub.

More often than not average when he starts.

To be frank he hasn't been great value for the money paid and the wages he must be on.

I think he will be sold in the summer.