Dispelling the Milner myth

Returning to his face former club is nothing new for James Milner. Indeed, Manchester City’s trip to Aston Villa on Saturday evening will be the fifth time he has traveled back to Villa Park since his move north in 2010.

The switch came on the back of a memorable season for the midfielder who had netted 12 goals for the Midlands side and was named PFA Young Player of the Year. However, there was still many an eyebrow raised at the reported £28m fee. Milner was seen as a solid and reliable player rather than the type to get fans off their seats, not the sort of player fans expected for just shy of £30m.

Four years on and despite playing his part in two title-winning City teams, those same attributes of being solid and reliable are still used as a stick to beat him with. For all that Milner brings to a team, it seems he is unable to shake the stigma of being a ‘boring’ player. So much so that parody Twitter account @BoringMilner has attracted more than 300,000 followers.

The account has had so much traction in fact that the Independent felt the need to run a story on their website about a run-of-the-mill interview Milner gave following City's 1-1 draw with Roma. The interview was much like any other you are likely to hear from a footballer after a match but as it was 'boring' James Milner it was apparently deemed newsworthy.

The player himself has confirmed that he is aware of the account and is entirely unfazed by it. However what he may be more concerned about is the way that he is perceived as a player seems to have limited his chances on the international stage.

Although a regular member of Roy Hodgson’s squad, the 28-year-old Yorkshireman has had to make do with making brief appearances from the bench in the past year or so, often as a defensive option to help England to maintain a narrow lead or hold on to a point away from home.

Milner’s inclusion in an England starting XI has become synonymous with a negative line-up in the minds of all too many supporters. It may not be much of an issue if it was not for the fact that the manager seems to have been drawn in by the myth too.

And it is a myth.

Last April Manchester City trailed Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield. Five minutes into the second half Manuel Pellegrini made the decision to replace the ineffective Jesus Navas with Milner. Less than 15 minutes later City were level. The former Leeds man assisted the first, played a part in the second and was involved in numerous other dangerous moves down the City right.

That City went on to lose the match 3-2 means his role is largely forgotten but it does not change the fact that Milner’s introduction changed the game in the Blues’ favour. He also scored the decisive goal as Pellegrini’s men won 3-2 away at Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League and set up the equaliser in a man of the match display against Chelsea last month.

These are just three examples and it is clear that the champions’ No 7 is no David Silva or Yaya Toure but the idea that he is little more than an average player is simply nonsense. Average players do not get into this Manchester City squad, let alone the starting line-up in some of the biggest games, such as the aforementioned clash with Chelsea.

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Milner is an intelligent player, he can spot the runs to make, the passes to play and he knows when play them. He also has the quality and composure to be able execute them more often than not. However, his technical proficiency is often overlooked in favour of his ability to work hard, help out defensively and perform on a consistent basis.

On first glance at the list of things with which Milner is most associated it is difficult to understand why they are seen as negatives. The fact is they are traits that any manager would be pleased for their midfielders to have. Yet for Milner it seems a case that no matter what he does, that is all that he will be credited for and those things, while necessary, are not exciting to a casual observer.

You are unlikely to see a raking 60-yard pass, a volleyed goal from 30 yards or a mazy run ended with a rabona cross from Milner but there is far more to his game than just being able to run almost non-stop for 90 minutes.

He is a clever player, unspectacular maybe but certainly not boring and when Manchester City look to return to winning ways on a ground where they tasted defeat last season, an in-form Milner could be just the man to help deliver the three points.