It was at Upton Park on 10 November 2002 that Terry Venables made a career-high start for a 16-year-old Milner, bringing him on as an 84th-minute substitute for Jason Wilcox in Leeds’ 4-3 win over West Ham. For perspective, Wilcox is 51 and an academy director at Manchester City. Nigel Martin was on the bench at Leeds and was the same age as Milner now. The veteran goalkeeper took the second-youngest then-Premier League debutant aside and urged him to enjoy every moment of a career that would shine “like lightning”. Three Premier Leagues, one Champions League, two FA Cups and two League Cup winners’ medals later, the talk still resonates. “I remember Nige saying that to me and I said, ‘Leave it Nige, I’m only 16.’ Then bam! Twenty years later. He was incredible,” says Milner. “You never know what’s going to happen. Look at the journey I’ve had and the number of coach changes I’ve had. “In the second season, when Peter Reid started putting players in front of me, I went on loan to Swindon for a month because I wasn’t going to play. When I came back, I played every game. It’s little things. I went to Newcastle and Sir Bobby Robson was sacked within a couple of months. A new manager [Graeme Souness] He goes inside. He wanted more experienced players so, again, I’m going out on loan to Villa. When you think about it, there are so many obstacles. It’s not like every coach has said, “I’ve got him as a player.” You have to keep proving yourself over and over and you know people are questioning you.” Milner is on the brink of yet another milestone, a 600th Premier League appearance. Only three players have reached that figure in the Premier League era – Gareth Barry (652), Ryan Giggs (632) and Frank Lampard (609) – although the midfielder cannot join that select club in Tottenham on Sunday due to concussion protocols. from a 2-0 win over Napoli on Tuesday. Quick guide
James Milner in…
projection The most difficult opponent “Messy. Incredible.” The best goal “I would have to pick three. My first for Leeds at Elland Road. Newcastle v Manchester United at St James’ Park. Gary Neville had just blown me away. I left injured, came back, cut into him and smashed it into the upper bin. And Sunderland Villa away, 30 yards.” Hero “Alan Smith at Leeds. He was a local lad coming through the academy. He did what we all wanted to do, scoring with his first touch on a big pitch – Anfield and in front of the Kop. The best performance It has to be 4-0 against Barcelona. The biggest influence “It feels unfair to name one because of the number of people I’ve been lucky enough to work with, players and coaches. But my parents and my wife are the biggest reason I’m still playing now.” The best advice “Work hard. I want it. My dad used to say that whatever I practiced with my right foot I should do with my left. If I made five shots with my right I would do the same with my left. That helped me play 50 positions, I suppose.’ When were you at your peak? “My best individual season was one at Villa, the year before I moved to City, when I scored quite a few goals and got into the England squad. I played every game in the middle. City signed me on the back of that. And then with Liverpool we had one year in the Europa League and the next in the Champions League and I had a lot of assists.” The highlight? “Pick one is hard because there’s every time you win a trophy and I’ve been lucky enough to win a few big ones. To make my debut at Leeds, to score my first goal for Leeds and then to do it again at Elland Road a few days later are massive points.” Biggest regret? “Two stand out. To be relegated with Leeds and not be able to celebrate the league title with Liverpool, given how long he wanted it, to be able to achieve it and be behind closed doors. It was a great sadness and a great shame.” Thanks for your response. The veteran credits his longevity to his good luck with injuries and a driven mindset: “That stubbornness that I have to always want to prove myself, always want to be the best in training or want to show the young guys up in preparation. » as he describes it. But it is luck and determination of his own making. The overall lifestyle is not unusual for a top professional in 2022, but it was different when Milner was working his way up through the ranks at Leeds. The steely determination that drives Milner, evident in his recent win over West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and which Jürgen Klopp sees as an invaluable influence on the team, was present from the start. “I’ve lost count of the times people have said, ‘Oh, have a drink,’ or ‘Can I be there when you have your first drink?’ They probably would have regretted being there if it had happened. I could have become quite ruthless. You don’t know, I could have been both a hug and a kiss. You’re just learning at that age and thinking, “What can I do to be the best?” “Isn’t alcohol the best thing for you? Right, I won’t. After training, I practiced corners and free kicks instead of playing on the PlayStation. This is obviously changing. After training every day five years ago I would shoot and my finish was fantastic. When you get older, you can’t hit balls every day after practice, so you have to grow. I’ll do yoga tonight when I get home. James Milner says his toughest opponent was Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. Photo: Sergio Perez/Reuters “It’s probably the worst saying in football when you pass – ‘You’re busy, you’ or ‘Busy bastard’. It’s not, isn’t it? It’s about doing your job to the best of your ability and making the most of it. It’s the norm now. Every player in this locker room is in the gym before practice and now they’re doing their own thing. Back then, or even at some other clubs now, you might get five to 10 lads, whereas here it’s 25. And that’s why the lads are at the level they are.” Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Milner, who shares fitness tips with fellow athletes and friends Jimmy Anderson and Kevin Sinfield, has seen a transformation in locker room culture. But despite the “busy” comments, he believes the training he received at 16 was essential to sustained success at the top. “In that dressing room at Leeds you had people like Dom Matteo, David Batty and people like him. You had Wednesday and Sunday off, so the boys mostly went out on Saturday night, had team building on Wednesday and a few trained in a bin bag on Thursday to sweat it out. On the other hand, some of the injuries I saw Dom Matteo play with – he was cutting holes in his boots to be able to play. it hurt but he just got on with it even with a grade 2 hamstring – it was a different era but there were pros and cons to both. “The senior players looked after me so well in terms of protecting me from the press and making sure I didn’t do interviews too early. They gave me a roll when I needed it and made sure their boots were clean. It was a different way of learning than the young kids get now, but it wasn’t worse, just different. “I feel lucky to have been in both seasons. I was playing in the Premier League and also picking tickets [underpants] from the floor, skipping [for training kit] on the bus, cleaning the under 19 captain’s boots and making the teas on the bus. You had to earn your stripes to get there. I feel lucky that I went through it and it helped, because you feel like you have to earn the right to be among these guys.” We have to earn that right in Liverpool. Milner takes care of that.
