Those who have worked with midfielder reflect on his career as he prepares to make a 654th top-flight appearance
James Milner was the most dedicated and professional young player I’ve met. He also took the not inconsiderable transition from being at school to playing in the Leeds first team totally in his stride. Nothing fazed him. He was very level-headed.
Back in those days, footballers used to have to share rooms during away trips and, at the time, Leeds had developed a mentoring scheme intended to support young players. It meant that my regular roommate, Harry Kewell, and I were split up. I was asked to room with James and Harry shared with Aaron Lennon. It was then that I realised what an incredible footballer – and a person – James is.
People says he’s boring but he isn’t at all. It’s just that he keeps out of the limelight. He’s not interested in it. James never drank but, once he was old enough, he would always join us on squad nights out. But whereas the others drank beer, James would stick to Ribena Toothkind.
Apart from sometimes having to drag him off the training field and telling him it was time to go home, mentoring James was never difficult. It helped that James had a very good upbringing. His parents did a wonderful job and encouraged him to have interests outside football. He was a very good cricketer and I think he’s still involved with his old cricket club in Leeds. Above all he’s a very intelligent footballer who reads the game well and has the versatility to play in different positions for different types of managers. That’s helped him.
