James Milner, who was threatening throughout the game against Arsenal on Wednesday evening, has talked to the Evening Chronicle today.
James Milner – continues to improve this season
And the Yorkshireman, who seems a very mature 21 year-old is very clear on what Newcastle United need to do, and he seems so right.
Let’s take a look at what James said today:
“We haven’t performed as well as we should have in a few games but we want to change that against Birmingham.†“Not performing will always create pressure.â€â€œBut there is pressure every time you walk out on the field.â€
“Playing for a massive club like Newcastle means you are under pressure.†“But it is how you deal with that.†“If you can’t handle the pressure then you shouldn’t be at the club.â€
“But it will take time and hopefully if we are putting in performances like we did against Arsenal it will change.†“There’s always going to be a lot said about you when things aren’t going your way.â€
“It is just a case of sticking together.†“We know just how much quality there is in that dressing room, but the performances just weren’t happening for us.â€
“It is just a case of turning things around.†“Hopefully we can do that. It was only a point against Arsenal but now we need to make sure we go out and get the win against Birmingham.â€
“Nothing less than three points will do for us tomorrow.†“And as long as we keep performing in the way we have done in the last two games there is no reason why we can’t kick on.â€
“Hopefully, we have turned that corner, but now we must keep going.†“Everyone knows that if you put pressure on teams you can cause them problems.†“And the pressure at the end against Arsenal showed that.â€
“We could have taken three points.†“We have set the standards now and we must make sure this isn’t a one-off.†“It was only a point, so this has to be the start of a long road up the table.â€
Well, there’s not too much we can add to that. James says it all. Maybe James can get a goal tomorrow, that’s about all that’s missing from his game as he continues to improve this season.
James can be an awsome player in a couple of seasons, and as we said, he’s still improving. He’s just a great player for Newcastle, and to think he’s still only 21 years old. 😀
Comments welcome.
18 comments so far
ToonKing
Dec 7, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Comment #1young Jimmy needs to learn how to cross, all that work he puts in and then wastes it with a crocked cross.
nightfall
Dec 7, 2007 at 2:43 PM
Comment #2i think he should be MOTM against arsenal… he’s the next ryan giggs…with a performance like the one against arsenal he should play for internation squad (seniors)..he did great…
wsq
Dec 7, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Comment #3don’t dish out too much praise on milner. a lot more players younger and better than him. he needs to add a bit more intelligence ON the field.
Dragoner
Dec 7, 2007 at 2:51 PM
Comment #4James Milner needs to LOOK before he crosses. Alan Smith was best against Arsenal, and second place goes to Beye, then third to James Milner
Hadrian
Dec 7, 2007 at 3:01 PM
Comment #5beyes go alot of flack for the arsenal game , with many pundits expecting birmingham to exploit our right back position .
milner i think need a bit more work , but theres bags of potential there , needs to work on his final ball , and also realise that he doesnt need todo so much work to get a cross in .
yh
Dec 7, 2007 at 3:02 PM
Comment #6Love him mainly for his effort and determination, and his dribbling skills are rather nice to watch. Amazingly his crossing WAS better – maybe he’s just going through a rough patch? Or maybe cause he’s crossing from the left?
Yes but if he improves his crossing that would be wonderful. And the goal he scored against Tottenham (although it was a semi-fluke cause he totally missed his first attempt lol) was beautiful.!
Leo
Dec 7, 2007 at 3:09 PM
Comment #7i thought he may have been 22 by now
the only thing that milner is sevealy missing is the ability to cross a ball. he has put some good crosses in in the past but most of the time it was a fluke
Steve_48
Dec 7, 2007 at 3:51 PM
Comment #8@TK you’re right and I think we commented on it on the night, while his positioning on the night was great [losing his markers] he often caught their first man and the attack had to find other routes… get it past the first man, same problem as with corners a la Laurent Robert…. anyone?
sparetheman
Dec 7, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Comment #9He’s too one-footed for my liking. Even though he’s been playing on the left, I hardly ever see him use his left foot. He should practice using it more ala George Best.
Obafan
Dec 7, 2007 at 5:02 PM
Comment #10I don’t understand why most of you don’t want to see the average skills James has.
How many times does he do a dribble which causes danger to the opposite side? Not often, he turns and turns and turns again and then 2 things happen:
1. He loses possession and gets frustrated
2. He can kick a cross which results out of play or in the hands of the keeper.
I think Milner needs to improove more than some of you see / want to see. Iadmit he always gives himself 500%, but that is that. If I see him running to take a free kick then I know that we need to have a lot of luck, he isn’t the player to take a free kick, cause he kicks hard, but does he knwo where he will place the ball??? NO NOT AT ALL!!! If Duff comes back and we are able to buy Arschavin or another RW than he will be nothing more than a bench sitter.
scott 9
Dec 7, 2007 at 6:37 PM
Comment #11i thinks milners great player i agree i dont think he will get in the team if we get arshevinas i think it could be arshevin and duff on the wings but i would prefer t0o see him on the right as i think his crosses will be better from that side
Brad Mitchell
Dec 7, 2007 at 7:50 PM
Comment #12I honestly haven’t noticed a bad game from Jimmy this year. He continues to improve, and I really haven’t noticed too many poor crossed either. Eventually he’ll be able to get on the right flank, and he could turn into a pretty good player for the senior squad.
Bill f
Dec 7, 2007 at 8:14 PM
Comment #13Most of the skills everyone seems to think he is lacking are remediable with good coaching. So long long as he has the basics. A lot of it is confidence based and will improve as long as the overall performance of the team improves. I would think most of us have played ourselves at various levels and know how much better you get when your confidence is flowing. Basically its a simple game but a lot of it is in your head.
Howie
Dec 7, 2007 at 8:39 PM
Comment #14im very superstitous and wednesday was the first time i hadnt either watched the game or follwed the score online apart from wigan home and spurs home and im wondering whether i should follow the score online tomorrow or just do something else for 2 hours and then check score as we seem to do well wen i dont know the score. wat do yas think
Ed Harrison
Dec 7, 2007 at 9:21 PM
Comment #15Howie – please check out for 2 hours tomorrow 😀
ObaFan2
Dec 7, 2007 at 10:07 PM
Comment #16Milner had a good season last year and again has been good this season but he’s so frustrating. I’ve said it b4 and will say it again his poor crossing wastes all the hard work he puts into the game.
Me n Obafan 🙂 (not the same person really) I think agree and are looking forwed to Duff returning and playing on the left with Zog. They should be able to play each others roles lb/lm/lw.
So Milner will be back on the right? Being limited to using his right foot the majority of the time is a big disadvantage something I’d hope he’d practice in training.
All in all I’m glad he didn’t leave and think with time he can continue to improve.
Brisbane Mag
Dec 8, 2007 at 1:20 AM
Comment #17Young Milner has played well this season but needs to lift his head before delivering the final pass to see who is supporting play.
Additionally, I’d like to see Milner, Zog and Martins take more shots from outside the area. Newcastle are not scoring sufficient goals and have to improve; i.e. starting on Saturday against the Brummies……..
James
Dec 8, 2007 at 1:12 PM
Comment #18Milner = Toon Legend ,,the boy will stay 4eva