Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Gordon Strachan has been chatting about Liverpool’s James Milner and the example he’s setting to young players all across the country.
Milner is entering his 20th year as a professional footballer, and somehow, he’s still performing at the very top level, playing a role for one of Europe’s best teams.
Strachan is a massive fan of Milner, and he says that the midfielder should act as a shining example to any youth coach or academy looking to instil the right attitude into young footballers.
What’s Strachan said about Milner?
Strachan spoke about Milner and the example he is setting.
“Look at James Milner, every youth club or youth set-up should go and ask to speak to him and get him to visit and tell them what he did as a kid, and that’s why at 36, I’m still up there with the best,” Strachan said.
“Ask him, don’t ask coaches who’ve never played the game and the rest of it. Ask those types of players and he’ll tell you that he works harder than anybody else. His technical level has come on and because he’s so fit he keeps his technical level through games right until the last minute. He’s a dream for any youth coach and they should really visit him and get him into youth systems saying ‘this is how I did it’.”
Perfect case study
Strachan is absolutely right. Milner is a dream for any youth coach to use as a case study.
Milner isn’t the most technically proficient player in Premier League history, but he’ll retire with one of the most impressive trophy cabinets and perhaps the most appearances in the history of the competition.
As Strachan says, Milner works harder than anyone else, and he’s not let his standards drop once in 20 years.
Coaches up and down the country should be trying to learn from Milner’s journey to the top.
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