Wataru Endo has withdrawn from Japan’s World Cup squad due to injury, and announced his retirement from international football.
Keep your head up, Wata ❤️
Manuel Pellegrini provided a superb summary of James Milner in a 2015 interview with @sidlowe:
“I’m Milner’s No1 fan. Find me a more complete English player. There are players who’re better technically, yes. Quicker players, yes. Players who head better, yes. But show me one who does all the things Milner does well. There isn’t one.
“It’s hard to leave him out. Respect, commitment and performance level: 10/10, fantastic. He’s polyfunctional: full-back – the only position he doesn’t like – attacking midfield, wide. I played him as a forward and the team averaged three goals a game. He gives everything.
“You leave him on the bench and he’s absolutely furious but watch him during the game: encouraging, shouting, supporting. And in the next training session he kills himself.
“Milner’s a phenomenon, a guy with big balls and a heart this big,” Pellegrini continues, opening out his hands. “Intelligent, great mentality, one of those players that when you leave him out you’re left with this feeling of injustice; it hurts because he should always play.”
✅ Most Premier League apperances
✅ Most consecutive Premier League seasons played in
✅ Longest gap between first and last Premier League goals
James Milner retires as a legend 🙌
A wonderful servant in claret and blue and one of the @PremierLeague's all-time greats 💜
Congratulations on an amazing, record-breaking career, @JamesMilner 👏