Milner: “Do You Want That Stress?”

James Milner’s influence in the Liverpool FC dressing room is huge. The man is a model professional, a reliable bet to kill the offseason lactate test every summer, and that has often seen the vice-captain earmarked as a future manager.

However, in a recent interview with Amazon Prime Video Sport’s Youtube channel, Milner poured a little cold water on that prospect:

“I don’t know, you try and help out where you can. I’m doing my badges, I’ve done quite a few sessions with the younger guys at the academy, which is good.”

“It’s easy, isn’t it? It’s football. You basically do it every day in training anyway, you help each other and talk about what’s going on. But it’s hard, isn’t it? You see a manager come in, do well, get a new contract and get sacked six months later.”

“Do you want that stress? It’s crazy and for me any manager needs at least a couple of years, to put in his ideas and get the players he wants, you’re changing a culture and it takes time.”

“But football is a business and if you’re going down the wrong path, it changes quickly.”

It’s certainly not “I don’t want to be a manager” territory, and it’s more of a good thing that he’s well aware of the potential pitfalls that come with becoming a coach. If he’s already doing his badges, there’s a good chance he’ll give it a go at some point, because... why not?