James Milner: When being a hard worker doesn’t cut it

When James Milner arrived this summer on a free transfer he was hailed as a logical and useful signing, adding to the experience of Liverpool’s young squad while giving a much needed boost to the physicality and work rate found in central midfield. At Manchester City Milner was a tenacious and versatile player, unglamorous but revered by fans and opposition alike for his accurate passing and bullish approach to the game. Certainly, everything was set-up for success with a parting blow aimed directly at his former team, ensuring an early support from the Reds:

“It’s a huge club and Manchester City, maybe over the course of history, isn’t as quite as big as Liverpool”

– Milner on one of the reasons for his move.

Yet, 11 league games into his spell at the club and Milner has quickly fallen in many fan’s estimations, despite the perpetual recognition of his extraordinary running statistics. (Does anybody else think Milner is a hard worker?) Though Milner has undeniably proven himself once more to be a hard worker, across this early period at the club his failure to translate the skills he was once commended has rightfully seen many fans questioning his inclusion in the team; and his role as vice captain and acting captain over natural leaders like Mamadou Sakho. Indeed, his anticlimactic season so far has been encapsulated by a host of awful corner-kicks, a collection of needless fouls, a wayward free-kick against Bournemouth that may have only just landed, and a rather embarrassing crawling scramble on the floor.

Overtime the once unironic praise of converting James to the Spanish pronunciation of James (in reference to Madrid’s Rodríguez) has now become plainly sarcastic, with Milner registering a lowly 80% pass accuracy rate in the Premier League. Milner’s once admirable passing has not been the only facet of his game lacking in recent matches. Having won an average of just 36% of duels across the park, including winning only 18 out of a total of 68 tackles it’s clear that Milner’s physical presence has failed to contribute to gifting Liverpool control in central midfield.

Unfortunately, these statistics have become symptomatic of Milner’s poor performances in areas that we would expect him to excel. In light of this Squawka’s match-by-match analysis of Milner makes for further, tough reading. The Englishman has been twice the worst man of the match and worst performer for Liverpool, while also contributing the least in possession during a match and being the most unreliable defensively for one game.

On Saturday the culmination of a series of bad performances came to a head, when Milner was made partly culpable for Chelsea’s goal, a feat on another day that could have cost Liverpool points. Milner missed a crucial tackle on Cesar Azpilicueta down the right flank, and then was unable to recover his position to cut out a cross. Though Alberto Moreno failed to track Ramires’ simple run the mistake was undeniably avoidable by Milner’s role, and it capped off a pretty dire 63 minutes from the vice-captain. This incident also complicates the notion that on paper Milner would be an excellent prospect for Klopp’s gegenpressing, however in this instance at least, he unfortunately lacked the positional awareness to prevent becoming a defensive liability.

There is an argument to be made that a move to the wings would be unfavourable for Milner himself, but could improve the aerial chances created for Christian Benteke. Certainly, Milner’s assist against Southampton was nothing to sneer at, with the beautiful whipped cross finding the Belgian with ease. Yet, in the grand scheme of things does he have enough creativity to replace the likes of Firmino, Coutinho, or Lallana? Ultimately, it’s unlikely other than the latter that this could be the case, especially when considering the possible move away from three attacking midfielders and Jordan Ibe’s impressive performance of the bench against Chelsea. As a result of this a rejuvenated Can and Lucas, combined with a returning Henderson look to be winning the battle for spots in the starting eleven where Milner hopes to feature.

Although, many would chalk this up as a few inconsistent games (including just a handful under a new manager) punctuated by one or two unfortunate events, it is clear that Milner is failing to perform to the level we would expect from a dependable, experienced Premier League player. Indeed, those who still back Milner to start have only exacerbated the frustration shown by a growing set of discontented fans (a player rating from the Mirror of 7 against Chelsea, being an obvious grievance). This irritation has also been perpetuated by Milner’s tendency to needlessly foul opposition players, a fact that has seen him rack up 5 yellow cards in just 11 league games – the foul on Ryan Bertrand that inevitably lead to Southampton’s late equaliser being indicative of the danger of such behaviour.

Once commended for acquiring Milner on a free despite competition from other teams, the club now faces criticism as to the midfielder being incredulously the highest paid player at the club, earning £150,000 – a cost that would amount to over £23 million across a three-year period. With the January transfer window approaching it is unlikely Milner will be close to the chop just yet, due to the brevity of his time at the club and when taking into account the turbulent nature of the past few months and the scale of his disappointing performances.

Yet, if the midfielder continues to perform as he has done Klopp may have to reassess the logic of keeping an apparently ready-made midfielder, renowned for his reliability, but being anything bar reliable for the Reds. In the short term, Klopp must surely consider taking out Milner from the starting team lest rightfully or wrongly he becomes another Lovren-esque scapegoat. With the German recently praised for his geniality and sense of humour, it may well require a more clinical side from the ‘The Normal One’ to at least drop the ‘Boring One’, something that will hopefully surface soon before Milner’s current incompetence results in a greater cost.