Player thread: James Milner (2014/15)

[NQCitizen]

A player like Milner will be an automatic starter at Liverpool. He's a superb squad player, but he'll never be that here. That's the difference between us and the dippers.

i have my doubts. in their current 343 system he wont start out wide, sterlin, coutinho, lallana and markovic will have those spots. he may start at RWB, because b/w Can, leiva and henderson i dont think he will be an automatic starter in the middle either.

same goes for spuds

i am not saying he isnt a good player/top 4 player, just that IMO he will find it hard to displace established names in those two squads. whereas at city we know his value and he is a cog in the team even if not an automatic starter

Very much the above.Liverpool also have the very talented Ibe emerging and looking like nailing down a place.
'Playing time' is a convenient excuse for him imo.

The team that actually desperately needs him is *gasp* the rags. None of Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea actually play the right system.

He hates them though doesn't he? I do hope so!

 

[dobobobo]

i have my doubts. in their current 343 system he wont start out wide, sterlin, coutinho, lallana and markovic will have those spots. he may start at RWB, because b/w Can, leiva and henderson i dont think he will be an automatic starter in the middle either.

same goes for spuds

i am not saying he isnt a good player/top 4 player, just that IMO he will find it hard to displace established names in those two squads. whereas at city we know his value and he is a cog in the team even if not an automatic starter

Very much the above.Liverpool also have the very talented Ibe emerging and looking like nailing down a place.
'Playing time' is a convenient excuse for him imo.

The team that actually desperately needs him is *gasp* the rags. None of Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea actually play the right system.

He hates them though doesn't he? I do hope so!

Damn right, he is what the Rags need. But ,he's a Leeds United fan through and through from what I hear, so Rags can get to fuck. :)

 

[Ray78]

They may have the talented Ibe coming up from their ranks but that will not stop them from signing Milner. There are no doubts that they have started with the charm offensive, either with their English contingent while on international duty and last month during last months' transfer window with him only having a few months left on his current deal.

 

[flook]

He is still hugely underrated/appreciated by the media and some City fans alike. He doesn't provide the quality in the same consistency as the likes of Silva and Nasri but away from home in particular he is often the craftsman for a lot of our best play and chances and he works so so hard which is what you need. The best teams in the World need someone who does the graft - it allows the skillful players to do their best work and put in their energy where they can be a threat to the opposition. He set the league record this season for distance covered last night. Highlighted by the Aguero goal for 1-0 where he cleared the ball from our box and was then in Stoke's penalty area and would have picked up the ball had Begovic got a hand to it. Instead he arrived in time to watch the ball go in - but that was a phenomenal run from him and it's what you need.

He is irreplaceable in my eyes. I don't think there is anyone out there we could buy that would do what he does for the team. We can put him on to bolster our defence, to add to our attack or to put in a lot of running. He will do it no matter where he plays. The consistency lacks and that's why he wouldn't be a starter at home week in week out but he saved us against Hull with a quality free kick and he worked tirelessly last night and scored another cracking goal.

I know we are trying to keep him at the club - we really really need to.

great post, absolutely bang on the money

 

[Ray78]

He is still hugely underrated/appreciated by the media and some City fans alike. He doesn't provide the quality in the same consistency as the likes of Silva and Nasri but away from home in particular he is often the craftsman for a lot of our best play and chances and he works so so hard which is what you need. The best teams in the World need someone who does the graft - it allows the skillful players to do their best work and put in their energy where they can be a threat to the opposition. He set the league record this season for distance covered last night. Highlighted by the Aguero goal for 1-0 where he cleared the ball from our box and was then in Stoke's penalty area and would have picked up the ball had Begovic got a hand to it. Instead he arrived in time to watch the ball go in - but that was a phenomenal run from him and it's what you need.

He is irreplaceable in my eyes. I don't think there is anyone out there we could buy that would do what he does for the team. We can put him on to bolster our defence, to add to our attack or to put in a lot of running. He will do it no matter where he plays. The consistency lacks and that's why he wouldn't be a starter at home week in week out but he saved us against Hull with a quality free kick and he worked tirelessly last night and scored another cracking goal.

I know we are trying to keep him at the club - we really really need to.

On the other hand, if we give Milner what he wants may restrict on us landing one of our summer targets in terms of wages. It's fine balancing act.

 

[FantasyIreland]

The team that actually desperately needs him is *gasp* the rags. None of Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea actually play the right system.

He hates them though doesn't he? I do hope so!

You're bang on,he'd walk into their team.

And I don't think its that far fetched an idea,Mr Milner's all about 'professionalism'.

 

[Ray78]

The team that actually desperately needs him is *gasp* the rags. None of Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea actually play the right system.

He hates them though doesn't he? I do hope so!

You're bang on,he'd walk into their team.

And I don't think its that far fetched an idea,Mr Milner's all about 'professionalism'.

Alan Smith springs to mind.

 

[Chippy_boy]

The team that actually desperately needs him is *gasp* the rags. None of Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea actually play the right system.

He hates them though doesn't he? I do hope so!

You're bang on,he'd walk into their team.

And I don't think its that far fetched an idea,Mr Milner's all about 'professionalism'.

I don't think for one moment that the tactical turtle would be interested. (Stupidly) he would not be able to see past Milner's technical limitations imho.

 

[FantasyIreland]

God forbid.....If that move were to happen.....would the people on this thread,who are fully supportive of his current stance,be just as accepting,and equally happy,about his decision?

 

[BigOscar]

The rags would never be in for him, he's not a "Gaalactico", plues he'd be far too much like what they actually need. It would be an odd move for him as well, as he'd get rotated just as much there as he will here. I think that would be true of wherever he went tbh, unless he takes a big step down. I imagine he'll discover that the grass is not always greener elsewhere.