James Milner

[lebron]

That Chelsea midfield is as bad a matchup for him as it gets (possible exception for RB vs Zaha). Did his best, but like Hendo mostly chased shadows. Loved his pen and celebration though. 

[polymerpunkah]

Set the tone for the pens, standing there with 80,000 people watching him, waiting for the ref to get on with it, cool as you like.

 

Big Game James

[magicrat]

MOM for winning the tosses for first pen and choice of end

[Aventus]

1 hour ago, bossy said:

He was great when he came on today. 

There was a bit of criticism for Hendo about not getting stuck in enough and shitting out of 50/50s. Milner maybe be more limited in his abilities these days but he's more than happy to throw his body in front of a car if it meant he regained possession of the loose ball rolling into the road. 

[sir roger]

I'd have paid serious PPV money to see BGJ bounce Rudiger off every wall of the Wembley tunnel.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

It must be weird for people who watched the young man at Leeds, Villa and Newcastle to see him win so much at a stage of his career when he should be well past it.

[Oscar_the_Grouch]

[Kevin D]

56 minutes ago, Oscar_the_Grouch said:

Thinks Alisson should have started.

[CrownPaints]

7 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

Thinks Alisson should have started.

Is thinking “is it too extravagant to switch my rich tea for a hob nob and add an sugar to my tea?”

[Pureblood]

"If Kepa scores it's me again, right?"

[gkmacca]

1 hour ago, Oscar_the_Grouch said:

'I wonder if I should go home and speak in English to scare the kids?'

[Grinch]

Massive mistake.  We can’t have another season with this midfield.  Some of them have to go and if we can’t find a buyer for the three sicknotes we’ll be stuck with them.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

5 minutes ago, Grinch said:

Massive mistake.  We can’t have another season with this midfield.  Some of them have to go and if we can’t find a buyer for the three sicknotes we’ll be stuck with them.

It's only being so cheerful that keeps you going.

[Aventus]

[No2]

Do we know if Milner is staying on? That was a slog for him tonight, struggled to get the ball of the ground at times. Wouldn't be surprised if he calls it a day.

[Carvalho Diablo]

25 minutes ago, No2 said:

Do we know if Milner is staying on? That was a slog for him tonight, struggled to get the ball of the ground at times. Wouldn't be surprised if he calls it a day.

He never lets us down but tonight he really showed his age I thought.

 

Incredibly slow across the ground.

[3 Stacks]

2 hours ago, No2 said:

Do we know if Milner is staying on? That was a slog for him tonight, struggled to get the ball of the ground at times. Wouldn't be surprised if he calls it a day.

I think Klopp wants to keep him to bring him on for 10 minutes so we can protect leads and as a general good influence. He shouldn't start games anymore, though.

[A_S]

1 hour ago, 3 Stacks said:

I think Klopp wants to keep him to bring him on for 10 minutes so we can protect leads and as a general good influence. He shouldn't start games anymore, though.

From a practical point of view, he can afford a tactical foul or two in such a short time frame, which is handy while seeing a game out. 

[Anubis]

Poor tonight and I think his drop-off has been sharp when you see him as a starter. No disgrace for a guy with his longevity. Better used as a sub in the last few minutes now, but still massively influential in guiding the younger lads.

[VladimirIlyich]

Milner was,untypically,awful last night. At his age he needs regular games,probably not getting them here,or retirement. He looked very sheepish when the camera caught him after his touch played their scorer onside for their first goal too. I reckon he will know he was poor and will do his best to rectify it if he plays again soon.

 

[m0e]

He looked to me like someone who hasn't played in a while.

 

Younger players have played just as badly.

[Paul]

Thought he was superb for the first half hour. However, time-wise, at the tempo we play and at this level, that should probably be his limit.
 

I’d love him to join the coaching staff in some capacity but I suspect he wants to keep playing. If he’d accept a greatly reduced contract to be player/coach with big bonuses for minutes on the pitch, then I’d be happy for him to remain as a player.
 

If he wants to play on until he’s 40 though (which he probably could at a smaller PL club with fewer games), we should say goodbye and good luck in the summer. 

[Manny]

To be honest I just want him to stick around the club as the standards he sets in terms of fitness, winning mentality and taking the game seriously are without parallel - look up the M62 to see what happens when you let those standards slip and the rot to set in amongst your younger players. If the price to pay for that is to toss him a few dead(ish) rubbers and cup games then it's worth paying. He's probably not at CL level anymore but I still don't think he looks a million miles worse than it.

[CapeRed]

57 minutes ago, Paul said:

Thought he was superb for the first half hour. However, time-wise, at the tempo we play and at this level, that should probably be his limit.
 

I’d love him to join the coaching staff in some capacity but I suspect he wants to keep playing. If he’d accept a greatly reduced contract to be player/coach with big bonuses for minutes on the pitch, then I’d be happy for him to remain as a player.
 

If he wants to play on until he’s 40 though (which he probably could at a smaller PL club with fewer games), we should say goodbye and good luck in the summer. 

As fit as he is he was 2 or 3 yards off the pace last night. I think it is fine to use him as a late sub but not a starter . Would like him to be offered a position on the coaching staff.

[sir roger]

Got lost a bit in all of the other incidents but he had a massive chance to put us one-nil up with a very rare goal from open play but missed the ball completely from a Diaz (?) cross when he was standing right next to their goalie.