Milner announced his retirement when Sam Allardyce was appointed as England manager.
Liverpool vice-captain James Milner has told the club’s official website that he hopes his retirement from international football ends up benefiting the Reds.
Milner announced his retirement in the summer and as a result is with some of the squad at Melwood during this international break, and he has suggested he is feeling the benefits when playing for his club.
He told the official Liverpool website: “To concentrate on Liverpool is obviously the big thing for me now. We had a game in the [previous] international break to keep us ticking over. I felt pretty fresh going into the next round of fixtures after the international break.
“I had done it for a lot of years, going away with the national team and coming back – and sometimes it was quite tough when you had been travelling, had a couple of days and were back into the fixtures.
“You don’t really get that break. For me personally and hopefully Liverpool, it can be a positive thing that you do feel fresher after the internationals.”
From Liverpool’s point of view, they will be glad their now first-choice left-back gets something of a rest ahead of a huge game that follows the international break when they face Manchester United.
Milner has taken to his left-back role rather well – both in a defensive sense and going forward – while his inclusion in the side has enabled him to dispatch all four penalties that have come the Reds’ way so far this season.
Having him in the best shape and firing on all cylinders when Liverpool return to club action is vital, as is the case for many of Klopp’s first team players.
It seems to an extent that international duty was taking its toll on Milner and he was not a regular starter in the England side, and that exertion must not have felt worth it if he did not feel at his best when he returned to his club.
Given the intense nature of Klopp’s style of play, little breaks at points in the season are probably no bad thing for the 30-year-old.
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