James Milner

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Milner scores the odd belter from free kicks and thats something we have been lacking this season with Ronnie taking his free kicking belters to Madrid with him!! Milner has scored 5 league goals this year so far compared to Carricks 2 but Milner will probably improve on that with time.
I think he would be a quality signing but I don't think there is anything at all in this rumour and people are just wondering which top 4 club he will end up at in the summer and reckon its Utd as Scholes and Giggs are getting on but my bet will be Shitty if he goes anywhere! I think Fergie might try to trim the age of the squad and bring in some younger players over the summer so that we get maximum value on one or two older players so either one of Vidic or Carrick might be flogged in the summer!
 
I called this last month in the who might we buy thread.

Remember muppets - Fergie knows better than you.

Kraftwerker said:
I've a sneaky suspicion we'll be in for Milner, after hearing the praise Fergie lavished on him before our recent encounter with Villa.

He's English (good for quotas), prem-ready, talented, can play multiple positions, decent set pieces, and has a good fitness record and attitude.

He won't be on many transfer muppet's wish-lists but he's exactly the kind of signing I can see Fergie making, rather like how we went for Carrick and Valencia instead of big name foreign players for instance.
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SecondFig said:
That's the sad thing, he's English, so will cost at least £18m, if not a lot more. He's decent, but he's never that good, I'd rather we splashed that sort of fee on Gourcuff, Hamsik, Rodwell or even fecking Wilshire
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Valencia money, max. Whoever said he'd be a great addition in terms of physicality but not in terms of class had it spot on.

Anyhoo, I'm hoping that after the 'value for money' hoopla, this remains simply something that someone heard from someone who has a son who plays for Birmingham.
 
hungrywing said:
Valencia money, max. Whoever said he'd be a great addition in terms of physicality but not in terms of class had it spot on.

Anyhoo, I'm hoping that after the 'value for money' hoopla, this remains simply something that someone heard from someone who has a son who plays for Birmingham.
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I do not agree - he s more skilful that people give him credit to...


Apparently he was a bright talent at school too...


Milner was described as a "first class" student at his school; he left with 11 GCSEs and an award for his performance in physical education.[3][4] Milner also showed talent in cricket, sprinting and long-distance running. He played for the Yorkshire Schools cricket team, was the cross-country champion at his school for three consecutive years and was the district champion over 100 metres for two years in a row.[3] He then completed his studies at Boston Spa School; at which the sports college was a partner to the football club.[citation needed]
James Milner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And Capello is very bullish about him...

Capello backs Milner to shine | The Sun |Sport|Football
 
If Martin O'Neill had any one of Fletcher, Carrick, Hargreaves, Anderson or O'Shea he wouldn't be getting tanked 7-1 by Chelsea.
 
Ekeke said:
3 midfielders.
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A winger and a Centre Mid, and a hybrid between the two who I repeat will be a free transfer and a fill in player capable of starting games too.
 
dev1l said:
I do not agree - he s more skilful that people give him credit to...


Apparently he was a bright talent at school too...


Milner was described as a "first class" student at his school; he left with 11 GCSEs and an award for his performance in physical education.[3][4] Milner also showed talent in cricket, sprinting and long-distance running. He played for the Yorkshire Schools cricket team, was the cross-country champion at his school for three consecutive years and was the district champion over 100 metres for two years in a row.[3] He then completed his studies at Boston Spa School; at which the sports college was a partner to the football club.[citation needed]
James Milner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And Capello is very bullish about him...

Capello backs Milner to shine | The Sun |Sport|Football
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11 GCSEs??? feck me, sign up now Fergie!

But seriously - he's good but not great - and at an inflated transfer fee he's nowhere near value for money.
 
Raees said:
A winger and a Centre Mid, and a hybrid between the two who I repeat will be a free transfer and a fill in player capable of starting games too.
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So which 3 players should we be selling to replace with Cole, Milner and a left footed winger?

We have a big squad if you havent already noticed. And players who will be looking to be given chances.
 
I hope we sign him. I've been impressed with what I've seen since he has been moved into central midfield and his ability to play on the wings is a nice bonus.
 
Ekeke said:
So which 3 players should we be selling to replace with Cole, Milner and a left footed winger?

We have a big squad if you havent already noticed. And players who will be looking to be given chances.
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We don't need to sell. Scholes and Giggsy could revert to being bit part players, don't need to be sold.. so thats two potential first team spots opened right there.

Park can go back to being a bench player and used in the occasional big game. I doubt Carrick and Hargreaves will be fit for an entire season especially due to the latters knees and Anderson is injury prone.

We can sell Gibson if there is anyone that needs to be sold.
 
Milner is top of my list of the players I would like to see at OT next season - I hope this happens.
 
I thought he'd start for us on the left wing if we bought him a month ago, but with the way Nani's done I don't really see the point.

I'd have thought if we were buying someone for the middle we'd get a creative passer. Only way I see it happening is if Anderson's on his way out which I doubt, but if he is he'd fill the role nicely and be an immediate improvement.
 
Sarni said:
He'd be a great buy. He's probably a better winger than the ones we already have, and a better attacking midfielder than... well, exactly, we don't really have any attacking midfielders.
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He and Anderson essentially play the same roles.
 
Brwned said:
I thought he'd start for us on the left wing if we bought him a month ago, but with the way Nani's done I don't really see the point.

I'd have thought if we were buying someone for the middle we'd get a creative passer. Only way I see it happening is if Anderson's on his way out which I doubt, but if he is he'd fill the role nicely and be an immediate improvement.
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Milner on the left wing would be average, he doesn't have the pace to be a hit there.

In the middle I agree, he'll be competing with Anderson essentially, but is that a bad thing? If anything the heat will be on Anderson to step up and two young creative mids will be good to see.. even if they're competing for one spot.
 
The one thing I don't get with Milner is people trashing him and saying he's not good enough for United, yet he is only 24 and just moved to central midfield this season, most acknowledge this a role that takes experience to master so surely at United he has chance to take the qualities he has already shown and develop into something more.
 
Raees said:
Milner on the left wing would be average, he doesn't have the pace to be a hit there.

In the middle I agree, he'll be competing with Anderson essentially, but is that a bad thing? If anything the heat will be on Anderson to step up and two young creative mids will be good to see.. even if they're competing for one spot.
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You worry about pace a lot more than I do. Unusual that you'd be suggesting Cole given he's got even less pace though.

We bring in Milner and Anderson's gone I reckon.. You don't have two young quality players competing for the same spot, and they're not at all complimentary in a team together.

You can't just pile up player after player and hope it all works out - Hargreaves, Carrick, Scholes, Anderson, Milner, Fletcher and Park/Giggs - that's too many players for 3 spots.
 
Been one of the most improving and consistent performers for both club and country these past 12-18 months and entering what should be his prime at that. It is also always welcome to maintain the English/British aspect to the squad.

We'll naturally have to pay some sort of mark-up of course.
 
peterstorey said:
If you're turned on by a list headed by a good but not make-a-difference player then on you go. I'd say your crying out for some real class in CM though.
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Got to agree with the Gooner on this one. I don't see how Milner will significantly improve us.
 
We don't really need significant improvement as long as Nani and Valencia keep improving.
 
Brwned said:
We don't really need significant improvement as long as Nani and Valencia keep improving.
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Why would you spend the kind of money needed to sign him if he's not a significant improvement? Villa paid £12m I think so they're going to want at least that and probably a fair bit more considering they don't need to sell and his stocks risen a fair bit since then.
 
Kraftwerker said:
I called this last month in the who might we buy thread.

Remember muppets - Fergie knows better than you.
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Stop blowing your own trumpet. This has been a discussion in the football forum for months and months now.

English player playing well = link to Manchester United in daily rags. No surprise there.
 
Myxomatosis said:
Why would you spend the kind of money needed to sign him if he's not a significant improvement? Villa paid £12m I think so they're going to want at least that and probably a fair bit more considering they don't need to sell and his stocks risen a fair bit since then.
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Same reason we paid £17m for Valencia. Good player, has the right attitude and is a long-term investment.

Hard to find a great deal these days.
 
Brwned said:
Same reason we paid £17m for Valencia. Good player, has the right attitude and is a long-term investment.

Hard to find a great deal these days.
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Valencia was a significant improvement though, because we had a huge hole in the midfield with Ronaldo gone and the options to fill it were Nani (who'd had a shit season), Park (obviously not a Ronaldo replacement) and Hargreaves (always injured).

This would be spending £17m on a player who's marginally better than Anderson when Anderson is happy to stay. It makes no sense to me and is the equivalent of signing Ashley Cole so we can get a very marginal upgrade on Evra. Assuming it's not all media bollocks, which is a high probability, I'm guessing Anderson is to leave or we intend to play him out wide.

But even if we're ditching Anderson I don't see the point. I'd much sooner we either invest in other areas, like a right back, a backup left back or a forward or attacking midfielder of much higher ability than Milner. Seems like a waste of money to me.

If you're improving the squad you either spend big to make a big improvement of spend small to make minor improvements, not spend big for a small upgrade.
 
Myxomatosis said:
Valencia was a significant improvement though, because we had a huge hole in the midfield with Ronaldo gone and the options to fill it were Nani (who'd had a shit season), Park (obviously not a Ronaldo replacement) and Hargreaves (always injured).

This would be spending £17m on a player who's marginally better than Anderson when Anderson is happy to stay. It makes no sense to me and is the equivalent of signing Ashley Cole so we can get a very marginal upgrade on Evra. Assuming it's not all media bollocks, which is a high probability, I'm guessing Anderson is to leave or we intend to play him out wide.

But even if we're ditching Anderson I don't see the point. I'd much sooner we either invest in other areas, like a right back, a backup left back or a forward or attacking midfielder of much higher ability than Milner. Seems like a waste of money to me.

If you're improving the squad you either spend big to make a big improvement of spend small to make minor improvements, not spend big for a small upgrade.
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I'd say Milner would make a similar impact to Valencia.

Not a huge improvement on Anderson in terms of quality, but in terms of what he can produce right now it's significant. When Anderson's playing well we have that added bit of thrust and pace in our game, but a lot of the time he isn't, Milner will provide that constantly and consistently.

I'd rather we got a playmaker but I'm not sure what picture Sir Alex has for the future.
 
He kind of reminds me of Fletcher with a bit more technical ability. He isn't afraid to get stuck into a tackle and constantly rushes his opponents. His energy and pace is something we need in big games and he has a knack of pitching in with a few goals. He could do well for us, as long as it's at the right price. Saying that, it doesn't solve the problem of needing someone in the midfield with the creativity that Scholes had in his early days.
 
Yeah but no one's bullshitting on about Denilson being the new Patrick Vieira.
 
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