James Milner

[madras]

I'd even say Martins would bury his fair share of chances from good crosses. The problem for the forwards has been a lack of service so far this season imo.

the forwards have to work for it aswell. no matter how good a cross it is we'll not score if both forwards are not reading where it's going.

[johnnypd]

Duff is a player that, for me, has always had to be 100% fit and sharp to be very effective, as he's not got a lot of tricks or ways to beat a man, so he relies on his quickness over a couple of yards to get himself in space.

 

But when he has that, he's a very dangerous player and I'd be vastly more hopeful of Duff making a consistantly positive impact than I am with Milner.

 

Sam puts a lot of emphasis on fitness, I've said since he was appointed that Duff could be one of the biggest beneficeries of Sam coming in.

 

milner has looked far better than duff imo, keeps the ball and links play a lot better even if his end product is poor and he struggles to get clear of opponents. duff just seemed to put his head down and run into the corner when he;s played for us, and throw his hands up in despair everyone the ball was passed to someone else in a better position. mind you i can see duff fitting into a 4-3-3 better than a 4-4-2 as he;ll be further up the pitch and his lack of pace will be less of an issue.

 

Fair points, and Duff has been atrocious for us so far and I was one of his biggest critics last year.

 

But is the purpose of a winger not to provide that bit of quality rather than just keep possession and link the play, as Milner does? Duff may lose the ball more often than not, but at least he's trying to get at the other team and ask them questions rather than just playing it safe, linking the play and really not providing much in the way of real problems for the opposition.

 

Ronaldo gives the ball away very regularly, but nobody says boo to him because they know that eventually he's liable to do something brilliant with it.

 

I'd play N'Zogbia down the left ahead of both of them though, personally.

 

totally agree, milner has to play a more conservative game cos he's not really got the talent to take the risks and force the play like better wingers do, even if those more talented players lose the ball a lot more (nzogbia frequently gives it away when trying something). when he beats a player for instance, he;s not going to be gliding past them with ease but twisting and turning desperately to find a bit of space, and he cuts inside or passes back because he doesn't have the speed, or skill, or vision, to anything else. the problem with duff is, since he has physically declined from his peak, i'm not sure he has it in him to be significantly better than milner, but his game is based around being quick and agile, good changes in balance and little 5 yard bursts to take him past someone, as well as the ability to hit it hard and accurately over distances. does he have any of this ability anymore? hard to say, but if not he'll struggle to adapt his game this late on in his career, whereas milner has been forced to adapt to his circumstaces from the start.

[tmonkey]

I get pissed off with Milner alot, and I dislike the fact that hes just not very naturally talented, despite all the hard work and ability to run in and out - for example, if the ball is high in the air, hes not someone who's going to control it deftly whilst under pressure. Although I think hes over the hill, Duff is an example of someone who is far more naturally talented than Milner - his touch is just better, and from there Milner is always going to be struggling to impress enough to warrant a first team place in a side with European ambitions.

 

However, I cant help but feel that if we had, lets say Huntelaar up front, we'd be seeing double or treble the number of assists Milner is currently getting (or wasted crosses being turned into real goalscoring opportunities) - someone who is good at positioning themselves for crosses, someone with natural finishing instinct, combined with height and good heading ability, a good target man. Viduka and Owen arent in that mould for me, and even so, are utterly overrated based on performances for us.

[TRon]

Milner reminds me of Neil Mcdonald, another hard-working, right-sided midfielder who floated the ball high towards the penalty area. Milner is the perennial under-achiever. Always hitting the bar or just missing important chances. With such a good right foot he should be scoing a lot more from both open play and dead balls really.

[Howaythelads]

Milner reminds me of Neil Mcdonald, another hard-working, right-sided midfielder who floated the ball high towards the penalty area. Milner is the perennial under-achiever. Always hitting the bar or just missing important chances. With such a good right foot he should be scoing a lot more from both open play and dead balls really.

 

That's a good comparison, tbh.

[Guest Pie]

Milner reminds me of Neil Mcdonald, another hard-working, right-sided midfielder who floated the ball high towards the penalty area. Milner is the perennial under-achiever. Always hitting the bar or just missing important chances. With such a good right foot he should be scoing a lot more from both open play and dead balls really.

 

That's a good comparison, tbh.

Mentioned it quite a while back tbh. McDonald was far more accurate with his crossing but equally pondersome. He did ok in the days when McCreery, Gazza, Jackon and O'Neill were about. 1987 iirc (under McFaul when Wimbledon knocked us out of the cup) Milner is clearly better at dribbling. McDonald certainly had better technique. Both decent. Neither up to scratch for a team attempting to challenge. Everton found that out.

[tmonkey]

Frustrating today. 3 good chances coming in at the back post completely missed, scuffed, etc, including one being an air kick at an absolute sitter. Really showed his lack of natural talent in his general play.

[Mowen]

Also, his crossing was beyond shit.

[Guest Mantis]

So he was no different to Barton and Smith then.  

[TRon]

He was awful today. Never looked like he believed he could make anything happen.

 

 

[ElDiablo]

Even the small amount of time Duff was on the pitch you can see what a player with pace on the wing brings to the side.

[Guest Mantis]

Lets hope Duff lives up to the 'Messiah' tag he has built up on here over the last few weeks and he doesn't serve up the sh!te he was playing before the injuries.

[James]

Duff actually looked like the old Damien Duff.

[johnnypd]

i wouldn't be too harsh on milner, he's been playing on the wrong side of the pitch for the entire season cos his manager thinks he is not a right-winger. and half of those games up front in a 4-3-3 to which he is unsuited.

 

duff looked alright, tho i don't think he looked any different to when he played under roeder tbh, he did have a couple of decent games back then you know. he'll probably play on the right when he's fit anyway. 

[garth]

Duff looks like he has lost a lot of weight, looks like the Duff you saw at Blackburn.

[Skeletor]

He has dodgy hair now though.

[TRon]

i wouldn't be too harsh on milner, he's been playing on the wrong side of the pitch for the entire season cos his manager thinks he is not a right-winger.

 

It's not a case of being harsh, he just doesn't strike me as having the right temperament to make the most of what he's got. Bentley for example looks far more conident in himself.

[Guest Mantis]

Not many of the players look confident and hardly surprising as they get ripped to bits because they aren't the next Ronaldo.  We are an average team with average players and not the high flying team we were a few years back. 

[Skeletor]

Not many of the players look confident and hardly surprising as they get ripped to bits because they aren't the next Ronaldo.  We are an average team with average players and not the high flying team we were a few years back. 

 

Graeme Souness's team would have beaten Derby and THAT'S saying something.

[chicago_shearer]

It's puzzling that Sam doesn't consider Milner a right-winger, but it also suggests that we will be looking the strengthen that position in January.  Which is good, because I can't handle any more of this Oba/Geremi bullshit.

[Ronaldo]

N'zogbia's crossing was awful, Milner had a chance to shine as a winger but instead once again demonstrated that despite the effort, he's no more than a good player

 

Duff has to be on the left-wing, couldn't care less what that means for the other two

[Cronky]

Milner doesn't have any straight-line speed, but he has a fantastic change of direction, and every season, he learns to make better use of it and create time and space for himself. He's well worth sticking with.

[Guest alex]

N'zogbia's crossing was awful, Milner had a chance to shine as a winger but instead once again demonstrated that despite the effort, he's no more than a good player

 

Duff has to be on the left-wing, couldn't care less what that means for the other two

On the basis of him looking quite lively for a few minutes? I'd like to see N'Zogbia played there first personally. He created our best chance of the match (first half) too.

[Guest Pie]

Milner doesn't have any straight-line speed, but he has a fantastic change of direction, and every season, he learns to make better use of it and create time and space for himself. He's well worth sticking with.

By the time he is 30 he might be able to cross a ball?

[Howaythelads]

Milner doesn't have any straight-line speed, but he has a fantastic change of direction, and every season, he learns to make better use of it and create time and space for himself. He's well worth sticking with.

By the time he is 30 he might be able to cross a ball?

 

Excessive optimism, there.