James Milner is....

[Tony Moanero]

Abusive? Are you fucking real? On this place of all places that post get pulled up for being abusive? Get a grip

Don't worry, moof, I'll call Skaro a "quim" for you.

[Tony Moanero]

OK, you're not one and I'm not painting you as one.

 

Now, please stop noticing me.

Makes you come across as a bit of a quim, mate.

[TheHowieLama]

...Liverpools Captain and 2nd oldest player in the entire squad.

[Adebisi]

After he's had a good game.. 'Totally underrated player! Any City fan would tell you he's worth his weight in gold! ETC ETC'

After a bad game.. 'Totally limited player. There's a reason he never got many games at CM for City. ETC ETC.'

Maybe the real answer is somewhere in the middle. Maybe we'll have to wait more than 5-6 games to know for sure.

[s(k)aturation]

Makes you come across as a bit of a quim, mate.

 

Yes, but in my case it's only the hat, Tony.

[robbiefowler9]

I think he is/can be a decent-to-good player, but is a fairly wank cm.

 

 

[TheHowieLama]

..English football's most willing toiler.

[El Dangerous]

...Someone who throws his bottle down to the ground in protest when he gets a haranguing.

[Josef Svejk]

..English football's most willing toiler.

 

[FanchesterCity]

He's not a good enough CM for any club with CL aspirations. He's far better out wide, but he doesn't want to play there (presumably because he wants more of the ball, and to feel more influential on the pitch).

I think he's harking back to his Leeds and Newcastle days when he looked a decent prospect in CM. He probably feels he's now a very good player and can return to that role, but he can't. 

 

He could probably get away with that role at West Ham or a modern day Newcastle or Villa, but whatever dream Rodgers sold him won't be honoured by Klopp.

 

I do think he's probably a model professional behind the scenes, and I don't doubt his commitment or physical fitness. He's just not good enough for the position he's in.

[TheHowieLama]

He was on the wing and stunk the place out. Their first goal was schoolboy shit

 

Poor mans Beckham as he cant beat anyone to the line so his option is an early delivery into the box. It is quality but I'm not sure that will be enough as we cant have one of the three behind a lone striker unable to contribute goals. 

[Soleilrouge]

Works harder than anyone and does not shirk a challenge

We need him in the team for the foreseeable future

Klopp agrees and made him our captain for the day

[El Rojo]

He's had a few poor games, but he was excellent at the start of the season and planted a beauty of a cross onto Benteke's head last week.

 

Faint praise, but he starts over Allen any day for me.

 

Will be interesting to see how we shape up when Henderson returns. I miss the bobble-headed runner.  

[VladimirIlyich]

Is moof getting 'all up in somebody's face' again. Tut tut,my friend!

Your posts are coming up as a little belligerent mate,maybe its just your writing style?

[moof]

Excuse me?

[Faustus]

I don't want to come over too harsh on the lad because I do like him and I've no doubt he'll make a fair contribution this season but thus far, I've been staggered by his lack of nous and in-game intelligence. If you sign a pro of his age and experience, you sort of expect them to be cute in how they put themselves about on the pitch, but he throws himself into challenges he has no hope of making like a rash kid. It's been doing my nut in. That challenge which led to Ramires' goal summed it up: why the fuck would you go to ground there? Azpilicueta still had so much to do before he could even get the cross in. Just jockey him, stand him up- don't make his mind up by committing yourself like that.

 

This is just a personal opinion, but I think it all comes back to the lack of tactical knowledge from a hell of a lot of English players. It seems to be a widespread thing endemic in the game in this country: poor reading of the game from commentators, glib clichéd soundbites from pundits, an appalling lack of tactical discussion in the papers. Listen to some fans discuss their teams woes and it'll more often than not be attributed to a 'lack of passion'. I'm not decrying passion as an attribute because you're buggered without it, but it's amazing how it's the go-to bone of discontent, when it could just as easily be a number of other things.

 

There seems to be this idea- which I personally think Milner is guilty of- is that unless you're at the centre of things, throwing your body in the way, getting on the ball as much as possible, then you're not influencing the game. Gerrard was a case in point when Rafa came in and told him bluntly, "you're running around too much." When he was pushed further up the pitch to play behind Torres, he played some of his best football in a red shirt. Even though he maybe saw less of the ball than, say, somebody like Xabi Alonso, all of his touches came in important areas of the pitch to have a positive impact of the game, rather than doing needless donkey work and knackering himself out.

 

It's the same, I think, with Rooney. Don't get me wrong, I think he's absolutely shot to pieces, but for a few years now he seems to have been indulged in this daft fantasy of dropping deep to receive the ball, get as many touches as possible and spray about Hollywood balls like some Cherry Blossomed Pirlo, albeit further up the pitch. His best season for that shower came the season after Ronaldo left (I think it was) when he was the focal point of the attack, again probably seeing less of the ball than he was used to, but getting something like 20 odd goals in the league.

 

Remember that daft experiment England had of putting Beckham in the holding position despite him having no defensive brain? Even when he played on the right for them, he was like a headless chicken, just trying to put himself about in some misguided attempt at influencing the game. It's like some widespread Scott Parker syndrome, where you're lauded simply for throwing yourself about, as if it's the easiest way of gauging passion. It seems as if it's lost on some people that one of the reasons they're throwing themselves about is because they're either going after balls they don't need to go for, or because they were poor positionally.

 

With Milner, he really needs to move out wide. In the current set up of two in behind the front man, I don't think there's a place in the side for him once Henderson comes back. If Klopp goes back to his Dortmund 4-2-3-1, I can see him filling in either the Grossreutz or Kuba role and doing a great job, but I don't think he's a centre mid at all.

[Russ Atmosphere]

I don't want to come over too harsh on the lad because I do like him and I've no doubt he'll make a fair contribution this season but thus far, I've been staggered by his lack of nous and in-game intelligence. If you sign a pro of his age and experience, you sort of expect them to be cute in how they put themselves about on the pitch, but he throws himself into challenges he has no hope of making like a rash kid. It's been doing my nut in. That challenge which led to Ramires' goal summed it up: why the fuck would you go to ground there? Azpilicueta still had so much to do before he could even get the cross in. Just jockey him, stand him up- don't make his mind up by committing yourself like that.

 

This is just a personal opinion, but I think it all comes back to the lack of tactical knowledge from a hell of a lot of English players. It seems to be a widespread thing endemic in the game in this country: poor reading of the game from commentators, glib clichéd soundbites from pundits, an appalling lack of tactical discussion in the papers. Listen to some fans discuss their teams woes and it'll more often than not be attributed to a 'lack of passion'. I'm not decrying passion as an attribute because you're buggered without it, but it's amazing how it's the go-to bone of discontent, when it could just as easily be a number of other things.

 

There seems to be this idea- which I personally think Milner is guilty of- is that unless you're at the centre of things, throwing your body in the way, getting on the ball as much as possible, then you're not influencing the game. Gerrard was a case in point when Rafa came in and told him bluntly, "you're running around too much." When he was pushed further up the pitch to play behind Torres, he played some of his best football in a red shirt. Even though he maybe saw less of the ball than, say, somebody like Xabi Alonso, all of his touches came in important areas of the pitch to have a positive impact of the game, rather than doing needless donkey work and knackering himself out.

 

It's the same, I think, with Rooney. Don't get me wrong, I think he's absolutely shot to pieces, but for a few years now he seems to have been indulged in this daft fantasy of dropping deep to receive the ball, get as many touches as possible and spray about Hollywood balls like some Cherry Blossomed Pirlo, albeit further up the pitch. His best season for that shower came the season after Ronaldo left (I think it was) when he was the focal point of the attack, again probably seeing less of the ball than he was used to, but getting something like 20 odd goals in the league.

 

Remember that daft experiment England had of putting Beckham in the holding position despite him having no defensive brain? Even when he played on the right for them, he was like a headless chicken, just trying to put himself about in some misguided attempt at influencing the game. It's like some widespread Scott Parker syndrome, where you're lauded simply for throwing yourself about, as if it's the easiest way of gauging passion. It seems as if it's lost on some people that one of the reasons they're throwing themselves about is because they're either going after balls they don't need to go for, or because they were poor positionally.

 

With Milner, he really needs to move out wide. In the current set up of two in behind the front man, I don't think there's a place in the side for him once Henderson comes back. If Klopp goes back to his Dortmund 4-2-3-1, I can see him filling in either the Grossreutz or Kuba role and doing a great job, but I don't think he's a centre mid at all.

 

Good post. At the minute Milner probably drops out but I wouldn't write him off entirely from picking up the pace and then Henderson probably replaces Can.

[diamondjoe]

The game against City in 2014 when we sneaked it 3-2, he made all the difference when he came on. Don't really know what he brings to us though except a very chiseled Jawline.

[VladimirIlyich]

Excuse me?

Your recent defence of a former manager and his first major signing seemed a little obsessive. It just seems you are being a bit contrary recently? Maybe it just doesnt transfer well in writing?

[Hades]

Great post, Faustus.

[moof]

Your recent defence of a former manager and his first major signing seemed a little obsessive. It just seems you are being a bit contrary recently? Maybe it just doesnt transfer well in writing?

What the fuck are you going on about?

[Trumo]

Excellent post Faustus mate, and pretty much exactly what I think about English/British players in general. I've mentioned in the past about how Beckham's performance against Greece all those years ago is hailed by the media in this country as one of THE great performances of all time. He was a key reason why England struggled so much in that game. While all the players would have been given tactical instructions to follow, he seemed to ignore them and charge about like a headless chicken, wanting to make his mark on the game. It left huge holes all over the pitch as teammates scrambled to cover spaces at the expense of following their given instructions, resulting in the hugely disjointed display we witnessed.

[VladimirIlyich]

What the fuck are you going on about?

There you go again!

 

You just seem to be picking arguments with some of the other forum users more than you used to. Maybe its the impending parenthood and house move riling you lately?

[VladimirIlyich]

There you go again!

 

You just seem to be picking arguments with some of the other forum users more than you used to. Maybe its the impending parenthood and house move riling you lately?

Maybe I have got you mixed up with mook?

If so,apologies.

[Jairzinho]

You've got yourself mixed up with Mook?