James Milner - The epitome of the one-size-fits-all utility player
Liverpool FC is a club steeped in history, and has a trophy count to match any continental giant. And despite not having won the league title for some time now, it is still a club with vociferous supporters and the legacy to attract some of the top talents in world football.
Therefore, if you have locked down a place in Liverpool’s starting lineup, you really should thank your stars and enjoy the ride while it lasts. But it is hard to imagine one Liverpool player doing so and that is current Liverpool left back, James Milner.
Steady, committed, professional, hard-working James Milner. But never mercurial, magical or twinkle-toes James Milner. And that really is all you need to know about him. His below 7 performances are extremely rare. Unfortunately, his above 8 ratings are pretty uncommon too.
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The fact that he rarely gives standout performances, when combined with his wide spectrum of skills, makes him a prime candidate for being considered a utility man. And no footballer ever wants to be a utility man.
For a utility man is by definition inessential. And Milner has too much pride (and talent) to stay at a club where he is inessential. He has been a centrepiece of multiple club teams and has invariably done well.
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In fact, he has been around for so long that it is easy to forget that at one time, he was the youngest ever goal scorer in the Premier League. After making his debut aged 16 for Leeds United, he went on to play for Newcastle United and Aston Villa. But he played in the prime of his career for the nouveau rich Manchester City.
Multi-purpose player at Manchester City; new role at Liverpool
Alas, it was at City that he acquired the tag of being a utility man. A man to fill in when a regular starter got injured. So he played as a winger when Silva and Nasri were injured, right back when Zabaleta was on the treatment table and even as a striker when Aguero wasn’t fit. Unfortunately, City almost always had central midfielders in abundance so Milner never really got to play that position much.
While the start of his City career was promising, the last two seasons were a frustrating mix of filling in for injured players and playing the less important matches. Milner decided that he had had enough. Despite the club repeatedly pressing him to sign an extension, he refused and signed for Liverpool on a free transfer. He set his sights on becoming Liverpool’s midfield mainstay, a goal which seemed logical for both him and the team as Steven Gerrard had just moved to the MLS that season.
Sadly, the scenario hasn’t quite played out that way. He never really got a run of games running the Liverpool midfield and as the team’s results went into a downward spiral, Brendan Rodgers (the man who had signed Milner) was sacked. In came Jürgen Klopp, the intense German with his own ideas of how football should be played. The squad was reshuffled and Milner again found himself playing on the wing.
However, this was still a period of settling in and Milner would have hoped that once Klopp went through the motions of building a team and filled in the gaps during the transfer window, he would give Milner a chance to prove himself. Klopp’s hand was forced by the dismal performances of the presumptive starting left back, Alberto Moreno. Left with no choice, Klopp turned to the utility man and asked him to play in yet another position he didn’t really want to.
A fine utility player
And that’s where Milner finds himself now. He has churned out his usual solid performances and has helped the team maintain a decent defensive record. But he cannot be happy with the state of affairs. He left Manchester City because he was being played out of position. And yet Liverpool are doing the exact same thing to him.
Of course, Milner might still salvage something of this new role yet. He is still only 30 and is yet to show any signs of burning out. And despite running himself to the ground practically every match, his periods of injury have been extremely rare. All of this points to a career which can go well into his late thirties.
What the future holds
But it is also clear that Milner just does not have the talent to be a starter in a club with Champions League aspirations. What he could do is move to a mid-tier club like Crystal Palace or Everton and make a strong case for being their midfield engine. He might not win a lot of trophies but he will at least be a major factor in any success that the club achieves.
Or he could go the unconventional way (for an English footballer) and move abroad. He could move to Italy and build his legend in front of some of football’s most passionate fans. Or to Germany, where the technical side of his game will get great exposure. Or to the next great destination in the Far East, to earn barely believable salaries in the Chinese Super League.
Also Read: Adam Lallana stepping up in Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool
Milner has been called the footballing equivalent of a jack-of-all-trades. However, he didn’t settle for that role at Manchester City, and it is unlikely that he will do so at Liverpool. But considering the riches that Liverpool have in midfield, Milner might need to think about a move away from the club.
And for his sake and ours, one of the criteria he should keep in mind while choosing his next club should be that they have an abundance of players in the full-back positions.