Liverpool FC Forum

[C-R]

Don't understand the hate on Milner. From the moment he signed, he's been labelled as a skill-less grafter. Imo, he's a much better player than Henderson, more effective, more consistent and doesnt have problems with confidence. He may just be invaluable in providing our young team with stability. He's the most experienced player in the squad right now (well aside from old farts like Kolo of course) and I got no problems with him being the vice captain. Our new captain can learn alot from him.

Agree with you 100% 

I think Milner is a very honest, hard working and skillful player, he is a great signing for us

[LFC1990]

Milner is an okay player

He isnt as good as Hendo in any attribute so we can nip that one in the bud straight away.

He may have experience but Experience at other clubs doesnt make you vice captain at Liverpool

JC_81 to say Skrtel isnt a great communicator is laughable please watch the game today he will organise our back 4 something he has done since Carragher and Agger left

Milner should have been way way way down the list of becoming V.captain behind the likes of Skrtel,Lucas,Can,Sakho and even Sturridge

[JC_81]

He organised it really well the last 2 seasons didn't he?

Skrtel has always been too preoccupied with personal battles and doesn't see the bigger picture.

Waving his arms about pointing at players when play is stopped defending a corner does not constitute organising a defence.

The only natural leader we have at the back, keeper included, is Sakho, and even he has holes in his game coupled with a poor injury record.

Back to the vice captain debate I honestly think it makes little difference who wears the armband. Teams that win things have leaders all over the pitch and that's why we will finish this season trophyless again.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

He organised it really well the last 2 seasons didn't he?

Skrtel has always been too preoccupied with personal battles and doesn't see the bigger picture.

Waving his arms about pointing at players when play is stopped defending a corner does not constitute organising a defence.

The only natural leader we have at the back, keeper included, is Sakho, and even he has holes in his game coupled with a poor injury record.

Back to the vice captain debate I honestly think it makes little difference who wears the armband. Teams that win things have leaders all over the pitch and that's why we will finish this season trophyless again.

I agree mate, in our 70's heyday you could have picked any one of about 7 or 8 players to wear the armband, infact there were 5 England captains (Hughes, Keegan, Thompson, Neal, Clemence) in that one side and that was back in the days when being an international captain carried a lot of prestige.
That's without mentioning others like Tommy Smith (who captained the club in the early 70's) and Jimmy Case (who went on to captain the likes of Southampton and Brighton for years).
We had leaders all over the pitch back then and it showed.

[JC_81]

True Yakka.

You don't even have to go back that far though.

Under Benitez we had Reina, Carra, Hyypia, Agger, Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt who were all team players capable of taking responsibility and demanding better from those around them. On top of that we had Gerrard in his prime. No comparison to today's squad in terms of leadership.

Before that Houllier's team had Hamman, McAllister, Hyypia, Gerrard, Babbel, Carra, Murphy, Redknapp, Fowler.

But if your club policy is to focus on buying young players to develop then the nucleus of your squad will have less experience and this is the result. Wenger's Arsenal team have had similar problems for years. Good players but not enough strong characters with experience.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

He organised it really well the last 2 seasons didn't he?

Skrtel has always been too preoccupied with personal battles and doesn't see the bigger picture.

Waving his arms about pointing at players when play is stopped defending a corner does not constitute organising a defence.

The only natural leader we have at the back, keeper included, is Sakho, and even he has holes in his game coupled with a poor injury record.

Back to the vice captain debate I honestly think it makes little difference who wears the armband. Teams that win things have leaders all over the pitch and that's why we will finish this season trophyless again.

I agree mate, in our 70's heyday you could have picked any one of about 7 or 8 players to wear the armband, infact there were 5 England captains (Hughes, Keegan, Thompson, Neal, Clemence) in that one side and that was back in the days when being an international captain carried a lot of prestige.
That's without mentioning others like Tommy Smith (who captained the club in the early 70's) and Jimmy Case (who went on to captain the likes of Southampton and Brighton for years).
We had leaders all over the pitch back then and it showed.

Back then we had managers who would instil the belief in those players you mentioned to evolve into Titans ,if you are going to opt for Milner as Vice Capt for his inspirational performances for his former clubs five minutes after walking into Melwood ,then selecting  him as Captain and letting Henderson learn  from him would have been a far less preposterous proposal than the other way around.

In my opinion Henderson isn't quite ready to take that mantle, or the responsibility that goes with it mate ,its just a really bizarre decision when you take into account that (and I'm only assuming here  ) Milner was brought in as an experienced replacement for Gerrard.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

He organised it really well the last 2 seasons didn't he?

Skrtel has always been too preoccupied with personal battles and doesn't see the bigger picture.

Waving his arms about pointing at players when play is stopped defending a corner does not constitute organising a defence.

The only natural leader we have at the back, keeper included, is Sakho, and even he has holes in his game coupled with a poor injury record.

Back to the vice captain debate I honestly think it makes little difference who wears the armband. Teams that win things have leaders all over the pitch and that's why we will finish this season trophyless again.

I really don't think you can place the onus of our hapless defence solely on Skrtel ,especially when you take into account he had to cover for Johnson going awol up the pitch and Lovren too easily being pulled away from his central position ,he also  had to contend with Gerrard in the Pirlo role providing less protection than a hair net for Chlamydia. I mean for the last two seasons the manager has done his utmost to dispel the suggestion a winning team needs a solid defence ,lets face it the best defenders in the world would have struggled in that set up , so I disagree fella ,Skrtel has all the attributes to be a leader.

[JC_81]

Where did I say I placed the onus of a hapless defence solely on Skrtel?

I don't believe he's a leader and clearly you do. Fair enough.

[Reg]

Martin's not captain material, he focuses on his job and does it well but a captain needs to understand every players' position, options and be able to bring the team togthr to function as a single unit. Not our Martin.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

He organised it really well the last 2 seasons didn't he?

Light hearted quip ,or sarcasm, either way it reads like its posted fella ,don't blame me for my interpretation. 

[UvS xR4GEx]

I don't quite know where Milner was supposed to play today.. but one things for sure, he kept drifting wide right of midfield. Having him, Hendo and Can in the same side lacked creativity. If Rogers makes subs mid game he really needs to replace Hendo and Milner for Can, not Lallana  (who I know had a poor game). Other than that it was a solid 3 points.

[aCe']

I thought he did well off the ball, was absolutely terrible on it. He lacks the decision making to play the role week in week out imo.

[Reg]

Solid first game, no sweat.

Both he and Henderson need to learn not to either follow each other or follow the ball. They're strength is staying apart, not bunching.

You heard it here first.

[red till i die!!]

I thought he did well off the ball, was absolutely terrible on it. He lacks the decision making to play the role week in week out imo.

I think that was his main reason for not being an automatic starter at City. Hopefully he can be a little more consistent for us.
Today I was surprised to see henderson standing over set pieces when milner has a much better delivery on him.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

It's early days yet and the Britannia is up there with the Emirates as a bogey ground for us so we can't be too judgemental but the midfield did look disjointed.
We just didn't seem to be able to build from the back or slide any balls through to our AM's, Lucas isn't as athletic as Hendo or Milner but his passing from the back is under rated and as well as Lovren played I think we missed Sakho's passing ability too. I'd like to see a Lucas/Can partnership against Bournemouth but that won't happen.