Klopp's PlayStation Midfield
You know, I’d already got this article in my brain long before I saw this tweet from Michael Caley, the brain behind Caley Graphics xG maps. Caley is a brilliant football analyst and the insight that he offers in this tweet backs up other data that I’ve seen in other places, but the simple fact is as follows.
Nevertheless, before I get into some of that data, I want to outline the point of this article. Klopp has been tinkering …
Ageism Is Working Against James Milner
When a footballer hits 30, or at least in and around that age, something instantly changes in the way they are perceived by supporters.
Every bad performance is suddenly due to their advancing years, every misplaced pass is because they’re not as young as they once were and they are used as target practice every time their side suffers defeat.
Steven Gerrard even suffered from it, which says it all.
This is something we are suddenly seeing come to the …
Milner is this generations McAllister
Cast your minds back to the start of the 2015/16 season. Brendan Rodgers was at the helm of the club and Liverpool had just signed James Milner on a free transfer. The former Manchester City midfielder arrived for nothing having run down his deal at the Etihad but his £150,000-per-week deal raised a few eyebrows, as did the fact he was joining the Reds to play as a centre-midfielder.
It was a role he'd played intermittently during his career but …
Why Klopp needs to put the leash back on James Milner
James Milner's long and impressive career has had many strings attached to its bow, the latest coming as part of an ever-growing Liverpool team.
Whilst many have fairly questioned the decision to bring him in on such large wages in 2015, he's done more than enough to prove his worth to the squad - albeit not perhaps at the level you'd expect of someone on £150,000 per week.
Milner has played left-back, centre-midfield, wide midfield and right-back during his time …
Milner - The Answer To LFC's Midfield Woes?
When James Milner was announced in the starting line-up for Liverpool’s game against Maribor, my initial reaction was something along the lines of: “Oh cool, Milner’s playing, we’ve not seen him since the Burnley game.” I like Milner, think he’s a decent option and the team was pretty solid so no complaints from me.
Predictably though, there was an almost instant backlash from the gathered Liverpool fans, as how dare Klopp start Milner ahead of the far more deserving Alex …
Why James Milner is underrated & deserves more credit
Ex City and Villa all rounder James Milner arrived at Anfield bearing no outstanding pressure on his shoulders, definitely not as much as the likes of Benteke, Lallana etc.. A free transfer from a Man.City team who's fan-base were left raging at the prospect of 'Boring James Milner' departing. What could possibly go wrong?
His wage bill. £120,000 a week is a staggering amount for a players who was seemingly brought in as 'back up' for Henderson, Can, etc... Heck, just a few thousand more would have …
Five Observations from Liverpool vs Norwich
Whilst watching this game against Norwich, I couldn't help but feel a little bit of sadness and sickness as the last number of times we played Norwich, Luis Suarez ran the show. Reminiscence of a greater, more fun Liverpool did not make for a pretty Sunday afternoon, as I laid back and watched highlights from this corresponding fixture two years ago while silently weeping, (which I can safely say, is also caused by the game that just transpired). Nevertheless, I …
James Milner - Adding Another Level to the Liverpool Midfield
James Milner's move to Liverpool was a poorly kept secret.
It was more of a matter of when and not if he'd sign for Liverpool. His signing once again split an already fractured fan base. Yes, he arrived on a free transfer but wages and signing on fee were rumoured to be a fairly handy bit of money and this didn't sit well with some fans who felt this could've been used elsewhere. However, if you put that to one …