“I've said it a couple of times, what happened over the past seven and a half years, all the positive things, none of it would happen without James Milner."
The Jürgen Klopp era is destined to become exactly that, an extended period of time. Assuming the German sees out the remaining three years of his contract, he will go past Bob Paisley and won’t be too far adrift of 600 matches in charge. Three successive quadruple bids and he’ll get there, but let’s temper expectation for now, eh?
There remains a quartet of players who were at the club in October 2015 when Klopp first walked through the doors of Melwood. If you had to rank their importance to Liverpool across the last eight years, Milner would be third; behind Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson - and that’s not an easy duo to order - but ahead of Joe Gomez.
Of course, in the above quote (via Liverpool Echo), Klopp was not only referring to on field contributions. Milner is viewed as a key cog in the machine, a certain coach or manager of the future. Equally, as the picture at the top also suggests, he has often been on the pitch at vital moments.
And it set my mind in motion. Looking up who played, scored and assisted in 2019/20 when the Reds won the league is easy enough; Milner was positioned 13th, joint-10th and joint-ninth in the club standings respectively. Checking who started and came off the bench in Klopp’s eight major cup finals with Liverpool is far less straightforward.
The fact they occurred over a six year span means that some squad turnover was inevitable. Even so, few people would likely realise that 31 different men have started a cup final for Klopp, with a further seven making substitute appearances and another 13 taking a spot on the bench. You could no doubt name 51 Liverpool players from the last eight seasons but some names who made the cut for these showpiece occasions may surprise you. Here they all are, sorted by minutes played.
Naby Keïta (to pick a far less available squad member) has started as many as Milner, and neither has made a goal contribution. Notice how nobody has made more appearances than the veteran, though, with only Henderson also included in every squad.
A big part of that is down to longevity, of course. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Sadio Mané, Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk started all six finals since they joined the club or emerged into the first team.
But if Liverpool were in a final in the next month, you know Milner would be in the match day squad, no question. Not everyone can be a superstar, or among the world’s best players in their position, but a successful squad needs a few Milners. His presence at the club will undoubtedly be missed when he moves on.
Site news
I recently announced on here that I would try to post regularly, and me doing so inevitably did not last long. Thankfully it’s because I have been able to secure some paid work. I’m still down on my days of freelancing for Reach but it’s been good to take some steps in a positive direction, and it was pleasing to make my debut for Opta Analyst recently.
So, watch this space. Newsletter articles will continue to flow but don’t rely on their regularity. Enjoy the remaining few weeks of the season, it’s later than you think.
I like many hoped that as Milner was used less as a player he would have more of a role as a coach. If I had to pick one player from the current squad who could be a very successful manager in the next 10 years, it'd be James Milner. The best coaches are often not those with the greatest natural talent, but those who have had to make the most of their abilities. Milner has that, and already shows the desire to pass that on.