Milner Plans to Make It as “Difficult as Possible” for Klopp to Drop Him

James Milner has no time for your concerns about his age. At 32-years-old, the talented midfielder still made Jürgen Klopp’s starting XI for the opening game of the season. His ability to follow instructions, adapt to new styles and new positions, and consistently play excellent football week in and week out has kept him in the conversation for Liverpool’s best midfield even as new, world class recruits are being brought in.

He looked as good as ever last Sunday when he helped Liverpool earn a thumping 4-0 win over the Hammers.

Milner spoke about his fitness and how he plans to keep his place on the team.

“I think I missed one game last year through injury and that was the last [league] game of the season. The body is definitely holding up,” he told Premier League Productions.

“I feel very good and very fit – I want to play every single game. Obviously that’s not going to happen, I’m sure, and you need to rotate to be successful with the amount of games we have. And with the quality that’s in the squad, I’m sure that’s going to happen.

“But as long as I’m performing every time I step onto the field and making it as difficult as possible for the manager to leave me out of the side, I can’t do any more than that.

“The biggest thing for me is that I want to be successful at Liverpool: to win trophies and for me to be a part of that and contribute to that.”

It’s hard to believe, all these years on, that Liverpool originally stole Milner away from Manchester City on a free. It appears to be excellent business for a player who has capably managed to play as a midfielder, full-back, and center-back over the last three seasons. With the performance he gave on Sunday, it’s hard to see him being very far from Klopp’s plans any time soon.