James Milner has made 35 appearances for England since first appearing for the senior national side in 2009. In this time he has become a regular figure in the squads appearing at both World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 as well as being a central figure to Roy Hodgson’s plans in the World Cup 2014 qualifying campaign. Milner was typically work-man-like against Brazil, but are his limitations starting to make his place in team in doubt?
What role does Milner play?
James Milner is a player who has long been regarded as hard working and committed to the cause. That being said, there is sometimes a concern over how much technical quality he possesses and thus how he can impact games in an attacking sense. Whilst he does offer a great defensive performance if he is played on the right or left, he offers little going forward due to a relative lack of pace and skill.
His versatility and willingness to adapt means that he is often played in a variety of positions, usually as a right/left midfielder but also at times as a central player and as a right back. Typically for England though, he is used as a wide midfielder with the responsibility to track his opposite number up and down the line as well as to tuck in and provide cover when required.
If we compare his statistics to England’s three other main wide players below we can see that there is a difference in style and productivity:
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Chances created per game | Take ons per game | Pass accuracy | |
| James Milner | 19(7) | 4 | 3 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 77% |
| Theo Walcott | 24(8) | 14 | 10 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 83% |
| Aaron Lennon | 33(1) | 4 | 7 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 84% |
| Oxlade-Chamberlain | 11(14) | 1 | 3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 81% |
Most noticeable is how rarely Milner attempts to take an opposition player on. This is in contrast to the other three players who are far better at running at defenders and successfully beating them. For a winger this is an important aspect of their play as running at defenders opens up space for themselves and their team-mate, Milner’s unwillingness and lack of quality at doing this does limit him when he plays out wide, particularly in an attacking sense. Another factor that points to a relative lack of technical ability is Milner’s weak pass accuracy which is the lowest out of the players listed here at just 77%.
Surprisingly, James Milner creates a good amount of chances, with only Aaron Lennon creating more chances per game than Milner. As well as this his four goals are pretty respectable, given that Oxlade-Chamberlain has only managed to score once this season. Lennon’s form here is very good, which arguably makes it strange that he is regularly over-looked by England.
Conclusion
James Milner is definitely a hard working midfield player best used in games against ‘bigger’ sides when England are obviously underdogs. For when England are losing he is not the best player to have on the pitch, given his limitations going forward. The lack of take-ons he succeeds in per game show that he is not that effective at charging down the flank, but better as someone who can work the other way and put in a defensive shift.
As such in the games England need to go out and win he probably isn’t the best option on the flank as players like Theo Walcott or Aaron Lennon are much faster and much more direct and thus more likely to split opposition defences with their pace and dribbling ability. Milner should probably be in most England squads but his limitations mean that he should perhaps not be a regular starter with a player like Lennon favoured. Interestingly, Lennon averages two defensive actions per game, the same number of defensive actions that Milner completes, which demonstrate that Lennon is also capable of tracking back and impacting the game defensively.
