Milner: Anfield coach role enticing after Klopp’s success
LIVERPOOL’S James Milner may stay at Anfield as a coach after he eventually retires.
Milner, the senior player in Jurgen Klopp’s title-winning squad at 34, is still concentrating on playing with two years of his current contract left to run.
But he would like to stay in the game in some capacity and admits seeing Klopp’s success close hand has made the prospect of management more appealing.
Liverpool have a track record of offering popular former players coaching jobs, most notably Steven Gerrard who learned his trade as the club’s under-18s coach before taking his first manager’s job at Rangers in Scotland.
Milner, who could face former club Aston Villa today in Liverpool’s first game at Anfield since they were crowned champions, reflected on his own managerial ambitions.
‘Some days it is 100 per cent yes. It is obviously great when you see our manager coming in and the job he’s done,’ he said.
‘Then you see others getting two months, lose a few games, and they are out. I think it would be a waste to move out of football with how lucky I have been, and the knowledge I’ve gained. It would be nice to share it and help other players. I am at a great football club and you know the opportunities the football club gives, so we will see what happens at the end. But hopefully I have a few more years to go yet.’
Milner, who scored his first goal for Leeds as a 16-year-old back in 2002, has played 34 times this season in winning his third Premier League title after two previous successes at Manchester
City. He is sure he can make an impact next season too — and has the data to prove it.
‘I think coming out of lockdown I managed to put 10 centimetres on
my jumps, so that’s not too bad at my age. I’ll take that,’ he said.
‘The fitness test is interesting coming back every pre-season and seeing where you are at. I reassess all the time, I try to push myself as hard as I can. I’ve taken up yoga, I started in the last four or five months.
‘We are very well looked after with support from physios, sports scientists and nutritionists.
‘You can’t go on forever but hopefully I can drop off from being the front of the running to the middle of the pack, rather than the middle of the pack to the back. I feel pretty good to be fair.
‘There’s the odd day you get out of bed and feel a bit stiff, but I’m sure that’s the case for most of the lads. I just want to go on for as long as I can.’
LIVERPOOL have handed 19-year-old midfielder Curtis Jones a new five-year deal. He has been at the club since Under-9 level.