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.”
Beyond the identity of the new head coach - Andoni Iraola is expected to be appointed and intensity is his identity, but his European experience is severely lacking and it is unknown how he’ll cope with increased pressure and a greater schedule - Liverpool need to spell out their long-term strategy and shed light on the futures of Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes.
These are the men ultimately directing the club and making the big decisions, so clarity is paramount.
On the face in the dugout, Luis Enrique is probably the only name that would arrive without question marks were he available, but he would expect proper control. Are Liverpool too attached to their desire for a head coach moving forward?
I think it’s important if you want supporters to buy into and be immersed in a journey, for them to know what the plan is.
I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that.
Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.
Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games.
Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on.
As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.
🚨🗣️ Jurgen Klopp on Andy Robertson:
“Signed for £8M, played like a £100M warrior every week. He gave everything lungs, heart, soul.
For me, the best left-back I’ve coached: relentless, fearless, always there.” 🥹❤
@TimKipchumba Frankly, Tim I don’t understand what you’re saying. It’s now fashionable for Vietnam and Korea to do what? What is the underlying industrial growth thesis for Kenya?
If those astronauts go around the moon and can find no trace of Lisa Stansfield’s baby then I really think that’s it, we’ve exhausted all lines of enquiry
@iamkathambi 😂 We are more than the limited capacity of our leaders since independence… the Danes have some useful industrial symbiosis use cases. It’s really not that complex… we’ve just been let down so consistently that here’s where we are.
The Scottish Premier League has decided to come alive this season. Absolutely bonkers Rangers come from behind against Hearts to come to within 2 points, Celtic right there as well - it may go to the wire…