No one said that Milner was the next *insert name* player as well. His style is similar to Fletcher's and at the right price he could do a good job for us. His English so his price would be inflated so I don't know if he'd be worth it because he isn't a big improvement on what we already have.
James Milner
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
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I was talking about Fletcher. Milner's nothing like him by the way, he's much more technically accomplished with far better passing and the ability to go past a man though he lacks the pace to get away.
Fair enough. Fletcher is a good player, but overrated by many because of the effort he puts in. Would you say Milner is an improvement of what we have?
I wouldn't bother with Milner, he's a decent player but borderline top 4 to be generous and unlikely to improve much at 24. He's at the right level with Villa/Spurs/Everton (see Young and Downing). He did look a major prospect at 16 with Leeds but I don't think he's delivered on that.
I bet this is a wind up thread. See how long it takes for a journo to find this, read it, then quote us as unnamed sources close to the club.
J1: Lookit, they're onto us. Face it, they've always been onto-.
J2: Find me an easier way to make a living and maybe I'll give a feck.
J1: So true.
typetypetypetype
Dont really fancy him Sultan. Does not offer anything that we do not already have, esp given that we should have Hargreaves and Anderson back for the beginning of next season.
Call me a transfer muppet, but I would much prefer Gourcuff or another attacking creative midfield playmaker.
Call me a transfer muppet, but I would much prefer Gourcuff or another attacking creative midfield playmaker.
If by 'similar', you mean 'nothing alike at all', then I completely agree.
Well obviously there are players I would rather have than Milner but I think they would be either unavailable or ridiculously overpriced.
Milner would be a great addition to the squad due to his versatility - he is an all rounder with a good shot, decent passing range and tackling ability plus seems to have a good 'football brain' to go with it.
I'm just a messenger.
I'm sure there are better alternatives out there than Milner. He's probably at the right level at Villa. However, if SAF wants to increase squad numbers he'd be good to have around with his versatility.
I can't see why some are suprised by this possibility. He's a Fergie type player. He also would've cost a fraction of the amount if we'd signed him from either Leeds or Newcastle. It's our modus operandi to buy them once they are proven. Like Carrick.
Yes, great! We're going to waste a lot of money on a good midfielder, who's not even close to being a match winner, who's also never going to be world class, but he's English so it makes it a great deal of course.
Gourcuff has a buy out clause with a fee of 30 mill euros. That's around £20 mill, why don't we go after him? I won't be surprised if we pay around the same for Milner, Villa paid a lot for him and he's certainly improved so they'd want a good fee for him.
Like Carrick will he ever be able to take the game by the scruff of the neck at the very top level? Highly doubtful. People want a bit of genuine class in midfield and I don't blame them. We've bought a lot of "Fergie type" of midfielders but it's left us with no match winners and no great creativity.
The same thing was said about Valencia...
Gourcuff's a luxury player and I don't think that's Sir Alex's type of midfielder.
If you're a club in debt, do you spend silly money (which Villa will inevitably want) on a "squad player". Our problem is that we've got a lot of options in midfield but if we're to add, we should be adding genuine quality.
Peter has it spot on with his assessment. He'd barely qualify as a top 4 player, let alone one that's going to improve Manchester United.
I don't see how he's a "luxury" player. Does he not have a good enough work rate? We have players like Fletcher who will get stuck in, it's creativity that we lack in the middle of the park. Gourcuff would be a far better option than Milner. Against the truly top sides, there's only so much hard working players will get you, unless you have genuinely high calibur players you can't compete with the top teams.
It's not even a case of Gourcuff costing more than Milner, his buy out fee is relatively cheap and Milner will most likely cost the same amount.
You have to acknowledge his fighting spirit. This is a more technical version of Alan Smith. I think Fergie is looking for someone who could possibly play on either the wings or central midfield. If he keeps on developing he might turn into one of the better players in the league. What transfer muppets can't see is that a player who seem to be average in an average team will of course look a lot better in a better team. Michael Carrick is a quite good example of this. His passing % wouldn't be anything near what it is today if he played for Stoke - mainly because his team mates are shite.
You're not a muppet, if you see that Milner is quite clearly not a world class player and not even close to being so either. We've already got players of his ability and with the squad we have, "versatility" isn't a reason we should be buying anyone for.
You can't afford having too many stars, especially when we already have Wayne Rooney. I'm sorry, but if you ain't gonna do the job then you won't be playing - same message was sent out to a certain Nani.
I am not over excited by his skills. He's a bit too young to be judged as not world class at the same time. It's about time people start realising that on your 24th birthday is not the day you stop developing (as in certain video games). And no, our team is not exactly full with versatility players. Of the midfielders we have today you won't see more than 2 left of i 2 years time - mark my words. Some will retire, some will have to leave because of other reasons. We have won the league 3 times in a row. Such things leaves marks.
Our problem is that we have no "stars" in midfield. With Scholes' career coming to an end, we're crying out for a world class player in the middle. It's one of the reasons why we play a 5 man midfield against the big teams. We don't have a 2 man combo that's good enough to take on a genuinely great side. Instead we have to rely on work rate to stifle the other team.
We play exactly the same way Chelsea are doing (Barcelona with Zlatan vs Arsenal). It's the tactics of today my friend. Very few teams are able to play 2 forwards in modern football once up against teams of equal powers, let alone that attacking midfielder that some muppets like putting into their 4-3-1-2 formations
. Instead you rely on wingers to fill in the gap at times.I like Milner but I'm not sure if he is a significant improvement on what we have if an improvement at all. I think he would do well playing in the middle in a 4-5-1 formation as the attacking midfielder. But for 24m, I'd expect more of an improvement to be honest.
We play exactly the same way Chelsea are doing (Barcelona with Zlatan vs Arsenal). It's the tactics of today my friend. Very few teams are able to play 2 forwards in modern football once up against teams of equal powers, let alone that attacking midfielder that some muppets like putting into their 4-3-1-2 formations
Exactly. Some people must think that we are the only team that play 4-5-1 and not realise that every other team does it.
I agree Carrick isn't able to win a match or control a game in the same way Keano or Gerrard could, I was referring to the buying Carrick for excess after watching him develop elsewhere.
Milner fits into that "functional" midfielder mould that Fergie likes. He might ot be world class but over the course of a season he will rarely let his team down and a very good players who is consistant is worth far more than a world class talent who only shows their ability every 3-4 games.
I think Milner at least has a pair of balls which seems to be lacking in Carrick on occasion.
There are many consistent world class players...Hence they're world class.
I just can't believe people on here are in favour of Milner, for F$%k sake he is decent but no more than that, for me the crux is how much will he cost.
If we can get him for £6-10m then i would be fine with that but anything more that will be deemed in most countries as daylight robbery.
He is an over hyped english player who will do well in the PL but not on the european stage.
If we can get him for £6-10m then i would be fine with that but anything more that will be deemed in most countries as daylight robbery.
He is an over hyped english player who will do well in the PL but not on the european stage.
You're suggesting a player you don't really know enough about, you did this with Huntelaar before and look where he ended up...
Come on Dev, stick to players you know.
And that's why Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter all play it too I guess?
I think a lot of people on here want him because he's English me included... However he will be on a list that would probably include David Silva, Hamsik type of player to play the role Park has been playing and to be fair there's no saying that he can't reach that level with us if we give him the platform.
Buying Milner is a safer option than buying Hamsik, Silva etc... who would all require a settling in period. At least in buying Milner we would know that he would give 110% every game (in many ways it would be like having a second Fletcher on the pitch) I'm not so sure that Silva, Hamsik etc would be up for a battle in the pouring rain in winter in this country..
if there is money we need an overhaul of the midfield and milner could form part of that. If we don't have the money then I don't think we should bring in milner as we would just be adding another excellent but non-world class player to our collection of the same.
Some people aren't getting that.
Milner's a fine player, but a finesse player he's not. Again, nothing wrong with that in itself, except that for 24 frocking million you want to be getting the whole package.
That being said, I can see SAF finally getting tired of Park not being allowed to play in the PL and looking towards Milner being used as a PL version of Park (and Park either sold/used as the Europe version of Park).
I wouldn't say he's a safer option because at this moment in time Hamsik and Silva are better players. Next summer i don't think it's a position of adding to our squad but more improving on the players we already have available. Milner doesn't really offer more than Carrick and Fletcher at this time being although he has the ability too.
Fabio Capello really rates Milner and says he will be Englands breakout star at the tournement, I for one rate Capello's judgement and honestly it wouldn't surprise me if Milner starts in a big game this upcoming summer and produces a similar display to Hargreaves v Portugal that had everyone raving about him.
24 and he's finally matured as a footballer, he is creative.. not Scholesy but creative enough and under Fergies tutelage and Scholes in the background he'll improve even further.. this is a lad who has always been a flair player and has added a defensive side to his game not the other way round.
As for the Carrick comparison, Milner is a different kettle of fish.. already at 24, he has been picked out as a future star of English football by the man in charge of England and his whole game is about drive and trying to make things happen.. whereas Carrick is a sit back, do the unseen things sort of player.
As for their mobility and technique.. there is only one winner.
24 and he's finally matured as a footballer, he is creative.. not Scholesy but creative enough and under Fergies tutelage and Scholes in the background he'll improve even further.. this is a lad who has always been a flair player and has added a defensive side to his game not the other way round.
As for the Carrick comparison, Milner is a different kettle of fish.. already at 24, he has been picked out as a future star of English football by the man in charge of England and his whole game is about drive and trying to make things happen.. whereas Carrick is a sit back, do the unseen things sort of player.
As for their mobility and technique.. there is only one winner.
I agree with what you said. I think Milner has a bit of the Steven Gerrard about him, i.e. I'll grab the game by the scruff of the neck and make everything happen. Which is what I think we have been missing.
Milner is definitely quality, but at the same time i don't see him walking into our starting XI when everyone is healthy next year. Plus 24m sounds about 9m too much.
For all of Capello's rating of Milner, he won't be in the England starting XI as I assume Walcott will get the nod due to the fact that England need some sort of pace going forward.
Milner I expect will do the odd job fill in role and personally he isn't much better than what we have got.
See? And this man works near Hollywood, where you make damn sure you overpay for everything, just in case the picture tanks and someone needs a scapegoat. Where stone broke people drive Porsches and you only meet people in hotel lounges so no one finds out you live in a back-alley one-bedroom.
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