Milner/England

[City Raider]

In contrast to the Lescott thread, Milner is well and truly the whipping boy for England fans.

It's so obvious why he's picked ahead of Walcott (Ukraine should have got in 2-3 times behind Johnson in the short time Walcott was on) but people can't see beyond Walcott's 'blazing' pace.

Plus he's playing out of position. I know he's an invaluable squad player for us, but for his career maybe he needs to go somewhere where he's a guaranteed starter at centre mid.

Hate seeing our players take unneccesary abuse.

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

I think I saw Milner playing RB more times then I saw Glen Johnson there! Apparently Milner covered the most ground as well in the first half, not sure how true that is though but it wouldn't surprise me!

 

[cibaman]

Milner wasnt featuring much for us at the end of the season, so its not really surprising that he's not in top form.

I thought he was great for us early in the season. He seemed to have become more composed, not giving the ball away as much. Unfortunately that composure seemed to disappear after Xmas.

But his main strength is his versatility, his ability to play different roles. Mancini usually changes our shape at least once during a game and Milner helps him do that. With England he's been given a fixed role and he's not going to shine in that role.

I thought he was better yesterday without the ball rather than with it. He did a lot of covering and closing down that went unnoticed. If he's replaced by Walcott expect our defense to suddenly become more porous.

 

[BillCarlisle]

In contrast to the Lescott thread, Milner is well and truly the whipping boy for England fans.

It's so obvious why he's picked ahead of Walcott (Ukraine should have got in 2-3 times behind Johnson in the short time Walcott was on) but people can't see beyond Walcott's 'blazing' pace.

Plus he's playing out of position. I know he's an invaluable squad player for us, but for his career maybe he needs to go somewhere where he's a guaranteed starter at centre mid.

Hate seeing our players take unneccesary abuse.

Trouble is that a lot of the England fans don't understand why Milner is in the team. It's obviously to cover for Johnson who IMO is weak defensively. He's a bit like Richards was a couple of years back - once he's upfield he's slow to get back. Difference was that Richards has always been able to tackle much better than Johnson and is better in the air. How on earth Johnson's got as many caps as he has is beyond me - the commentator said last night that he's now beaten George Cohen. Unbelievable. No wonder Micah's miffed at being overlooked.

It's quite often leaving us weak in midfield when we're on the break which is the main reason why England have difficulty getting hold of the ball and when we do get it England don't hang on to it anywhere near as much as most other teams left in the competition.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

Johnson would get ripped apart if Milner wasn't there. However you have to say he was poor when in attacking positions.

But England fans can't see the point of Gareth Barry, which says everything you need to know about the cockneys and people from Grimsby & Taunton who follow England.

 

[FishFoot]

I can see why Milner is in the team, because the wrong player is at right back (IMO).

Personally, I would drop Milner v Italy and go with Walcott.

On another note. I don't think Milner is good enough to be playing week in, week out in a title winning side.

He was class for us when we were top half, that's about his level (IMO).

 

[cibaman]

But England fans can't see the point of Gareth Barry, which says everything you need to know about the cockneys and people from Grimsby & Taunton who follow England.

And all of the City fans that, at least until recently, agreed with them!

 

[Dubai Blue]

When you play for England you're officially classed as shit if you're not constantly dribbling past 5 players and then giving the ball away or blocking shots on the edge of the area with your bollocks.

Anyone criticising Milner is by default criticising Hodgson, yet one of those is deemed to be a waste of oxygen and the other has single-handedly saved English football. Milner has quite clearly been told to do a particular job (drop deep and provide cover for the criminally negligent Glen Johnson) and he's doing it as well as can be expected.

Those singling out Milner simply don't grasp the idea that football is slightly more complex than just getting hold of the ball and sticking it in the back of the net.

 

[Tricky Dickys Right Foot Shot]

I can see why Milner is in the team, because the wrong player is at right back (IMO).

Personally, I would drop Milner v Italy and go with Walcott.

On another note. I don't think Milner is good enough to be playing week in, week out in a title winning side.

He was class for us when we were top half, that's about his level (IMO).

The problem is people don't see or understand how much Milner actually helps the defence out. Take Milner out put Walcott in and see our back four especially Glen Johnson get exposed, Terry and Lescott seem to be in decent form but not decent enough to make me think that or defence is impenetrable!

People see Walcott's pace yet fail to see that although good at attacking he actually does offer very little to the team other then the hope of beating his man and putting in a half decent cross (which could be 1 in 5) a very similar player to that of Adam Johnson (minus the pace) in the sense of as an impact player who will make a tired defence nervous.

Players for England are only noticed for their attacking duty apart from the back 4 and t'riffic Scottie Parka, who seems to do no wrong despite how shit he plays. Take last night as an example, Rooney was dog shit, couldn't control a ball, pass a ball and gave away possession a number of times, which I may remind you all is exactly what Gareth Barry gets slated for on a number of times for England, Yet I go to read the paper this morning and it's all "the Messiah returns" "England big boy is back" and so on all just because he scored! Some even rated him a 7/10 I would of given him a 5!

 

[Eds]

Anyone seen any opta stats showing how far Milner ran compared to the rest of the team?