Liverpool veteran James Milner decided to call it a day on his England career in 2016 after discussions with Sam Allardyce.
Liverpool are looking to secure their place in the next round of the Champions League by disposing of Porto, having won the first leg 5-0, and they will be trying to do so with the competition’s most creative player at their disposal.
James Milner will go into the tie as the leading assist provider in the Champions League this season, as he continues to go about making a significant contribution to his side whilst continuing to go under the radar.
To put Milner’s achievement in terms of assists into perspective, the former England man has only played 340 out of a possible 630 minutes in Liverpool’s European campaign so far.
Never a player to steal the headlines, Milner has been a consistent high performer throughout his career, often doing the dirty work and filling in for missing players when required of him at Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool.
With the World Cup in Russia rapidly approaching, Gareth Southgate will rue Milner’s decision to retire from international duty in 2016, and would surely love to include him in his squad given the current state of the England midfield.
On top of this, the Three Lions squad is lacking some leadership and genuine experience, both of which Milner has bags of, especially considering that Wayne Rooney is no longer available and Joe Hart is at risk of not making the squad all together.
Despite Milner’s retirement two years ago, could Southgate call upon the Liverpool ace to pull on the white jersey one last time?
On top of his leadership qualities and experience, Milner’s versatility makes him a great asset to any squad. A natural midfielder, the 32-year-old has looked just as good in his unnatural position of left-back where he was frequently been selected by Jurgen Klopp in recent seasons. Picking Milner, even for the bench, is like having three players in one, and what could be better than that as a manager?
With Milner’s impressive form of late, many fans have taken to Twitter to express their view that the England midfielder still has what it takes to cut it with England, and that Gareth Southgate should most definitely consider giving the 61-capped international a phone call.
Here is a round up of some of the reaction…
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