James Milner’s next challenge is to play well enough for Newcastle that he makes it into the full England squad.
James Milner - can he make jump into full England squad?
Well at least that’s what his manager Kevin Keegan thinks. Milner has a massive 36 caps for the England Under-21 side and even England Captain Steven Taylor is not too far behind with 25 caps.
Kevin has challenged the 22 year-old winger to start making the England full squad having seen old team mates Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and David Bentley all being called up for the full side. Young and Bentley both played in Capello’s first game in charge of England against Switzerland.
Keegan told Newcastle World TV today:
“You have to remember he’s still young,” “Just because he has got a lot of experience and played a lot of games you can’t hide the fact that he’s still got another year to play at under-21 level.â€
“But the challenge for James, and we have talked about this with him, is to make that jump into the full squad.†“He has played enough games with the under-21s but it would be great to go and win something with them maybe next year.â€
“I’m sure he wants to do that and they’ve got a chance because Stuart Pearce has got a great squad.”
James Milner’s main priority however remains Newcastle United and he knows that his performances at club level will determine whether he becomes a full international.
Kevin continued:
“His bread and butter is here and there’s still a lot of improvement left in him,” “He’s a very good player now but he can improve and he knows that.â€
“The one thing you know with him is that he will work hard at it and he will listen.†“Some players you have to kick up the backside, but you don’t have to do that with James.
“And that’s why the fans like him so much here.”
James has been a consistent player for us in the last season or so, and we’ll just have to wait and see how much better he can get. But there’s lots of competition on the wings in the full England squad right now, and it will not be easy for James to make the step up.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
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55 responses so far ↓
1 hanzemre // Feb 21, 2008 at 12:11
yeah he can with more balls into the box
2 Luke // Feb 21, 2008 at 12:29
I have a lot of faith in milner, but someone stick him in the corner and tell him to practise his crossing.
3 John // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:14
The reason he has’nt been called up is quite simple..He’s not good enough .
4 Jimmie // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:19
Hes young and still learns. Hes time will come..
5 Gloryhunter // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:24
…. don’t care
6 John // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:25
he does’nt have the pace to be a top top player… He’s crosssing is’nt good enough either…
7 Paul P // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:26
2 probelms with james, a. like everyone says he can not cross a ball. 2 when he beats a man, instead of bombing on and trying to get a cross in, he will check back and try and beat him again when he has already beat him. it sickens me off when he does that. if he can learn to get past a man, concentrate on his crossing then he may get in, at present, there are other wingers in the premiership which offer more than james.
8 Marty // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:31
Luke,i agree with sending him to a corner n making him send in crosses as it seems pointless to have a winger that works his ass off but can`t cross his legs!!!
Dont think he is good enough to get into full squad,he will have to step up several notches to lace bentleys boots……..
9 scott 9 // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:32
he aint good enough yet but hopefully in a few years time and why does everyone go on about his pace hes a quick player hes not slow at all
10 Greek-toon // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:35
Gazza has been sectioned under the mental health act
11 Hadrian // Feb 21, 2008 at 13:43
Pearce will help push milner into the england squad , but i think milners capellos kind of player anyway , he just needs to work on his final delivery .
12 Leo* // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:00
hard worker, and hasnt put much of a foot wrong that i can remember, and the whole falasy that he cant cross, its not true, its the press lads, i also nearly believed it as well.
he just needs to be told to get to that by line more often and put it across, no one seems to want to do that at newcastle, when we do strangely we have got goals!
13 nightfall // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:13
what do you think:
dunne - 6m
carrick - 11m
ribery - emre+15m
barbatov - 20m
and perhaps song from arsenal…we need another young, quality CM..and he’ll be free in summer
and sell: smith, butt, barton, shola, viduka, carr, rozehnal, emre, and perhaps geremi & cacapa! and add youngsters to our fist team squad: carroll, kadar, bohang, lualua, tozer, zamblera, edgar, goodsmark,…,…
so our team would be:
given/harper
beye/ramage dunne/edgar faye/taylor enrique/kadar
milner/lualua carrick/song ribery/bohang zog/duff
owen/martins berbatov/carroll
+ forster, zamblera, tozer, goodsmark,…
faye and edgar can also play as FBs, lualua and zog as CMs nad bohang as a winger…
bayern wants emre and you never know..ribery might come…afterall he went to bayern, although they weren’t in CL…and EPL is a challenge for every player…
14 YongMalaysia // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:20
he is good but stil need to practise on passing and crossing…
15 ende // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:27
nightfall, what’s any of that got to do with milner making full squad at england??
16 Obafan // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:48
3 words:
No f***cking way!!!!
He is overrated and does not have any intelligence at all. I just can’t understand the fact that he plays most of the NUFC games. Luckely we have Beye behind him otherwise our right wing would be so weak (probably the weakest of the entire EPL).
17 Obafan // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:51
nightfall - I think you really underestimate Bayern; why on Earth would they let Ribery leave to another club? We live above our standard at present. I think it will be very difficult to attract players in the summer. Why?
1. what a chaos it has been this season; no player wants to be involved in such a mess
2. if we stick with bad attitude guys (Barton, Smith) lots of players will turn us down cause they won’t play with these kind of idiots.
3. no european football and perhaps just no relegation. Not attractive to join tho’.
VERY VERY HARD SUMMER AHEAD OF US!!!
18 milner fan // Feb 21, 2008 at 14:51
nightfall, i think your commenting on the article lol. This is about milner not what players you think are best for the club
19 wsq // Feb 21, 2008 at 15:27
rather have bently or someone with pace
20 Matthew Tom // Feb 21, 2008 at 15:34
Milner is currently behind a number of players for a right wing position with England:
David Bentley
David Beckham
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Aaron Lennon
Steven Gerrard (sometimes)
I like Milner a lot, but I think we’d all rather have one of these players instead. Milner is a good player, very fit and certainly talented, but not quick enough and not good enough at crossing for me at the moment.
Would love to see him improve to challenge this lot though!
21 nightfall // Feb 21, 2008 at 15:34
ribery is 24 and already played for 10 different clubs..so i guess he’s the type of person who loves challenges…
oh and obafan..i’ve written smith and barton should be sold…and 8 other players…
as for milner…i’ve told many times i think he’s the best player we have…he’s talented and his attitude is simply superb…he could do wonders for this club..if he had better players around him…
22 NUFCFAN // Feb 21, 2008 at 16:18
no, thats why he is stuck in the under 21s
23 milner fan // Feb 21, 2008 at 16:36
i think he could make the cut after he improves his gameplay. He can beat players but doesnt seem to want to cross it once he gets past them. I highly rate him as a player. I think he will improve for next season.
24 tommyy // Feb 21, 2008 at 16:40
I have a very strong and horrific feeling that both Smith and Butt will be starting against Man U.
About Milner, of course he can cross, any professional footballer can cross. He’s just not gettin wide enough to put them in a bit deeper.
25 american pie // Feb 21, 2008 at 16:44
competition +
inconsistency+
NEWCASTLE STRUGGLING +
= he is overlooked
and who says he can’t cross. so many goals have come from his assists. the problem is there is no one there to finish so all his work doesn’t count until someone scores them
26 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 16:51
Obafan = tosser.
It’s great when you come on here and read another fan slating the one player who you know is going to give everything he’s got whenever he puts on the black and white stripes.
27 CRAIGG // Feb 21, 2008 at 17:01
Obafan why do people like you buy this crap that milner cant run or cross
He is very fast and the reason we dont score more off his crosses is because our strikers movement, (owen aside) is shit and as much as a fan of his that includes martins
28 Tom_Toon // Feb 21, 2008 at 17:34
To the title: No
Cant cross and lets face it hes not really that fast.
29 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:00
Tom_Toon - you wouldn’t know a decent cross if it jumped up and bit you on the arse - back to the sopcast little boy. Apparently it’s Racing Bummers v Dynamo Felching tonight - should be right up your steet
30 Tom_Toon // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:09
Your mature, silly mug.
31 Gordon // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:21
Milner: lots of effort, a lot less quality
He’s a Villa/Everton/Spurs level player.
Fact: You’ll never see the likes of Arsenal, Man U or Chelsea bidding for him.
32 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:21
What about it, TT?
33 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:30
Gordon - there’s nothing wrong with that though, is there?
All 3 of those teams are better than us and, unless I’m mistaken, the last player we had that one of the big 3 went in for was Andy Cole.
34 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:32
Fact: The Earth is round.
Not a Fact: You’ll never see the likes of Arsenal, Man U or Chelsea bidding for him (Milner).
35 Swede1891 // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:36
Chicken..you wouldnt know a breast from a football cause you never touched either..(no offense:)) Agree with Obafan and Tom_Toon..He´s just not good enough..No split vision..poor passing, crossing etc …
36 Tom_Toon // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:41
I think i can cross better than Milner and my sport is badminton although Darren Bent beat me at it
37 Leo* // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:42
actually the earth is not round, its spherical haha to be pedantic
38 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 18:59
Leo - I did actually think that when I wrote it - just thought it was probably a few syllables too many for those that are still studying for their GCSE’s.
39 Chicken // Feb 21, 2008 at 19:04
Swede1891 - if you blindfolded me and rubbed a football in my face and then rubbed a breast in my face, I’m pretty sure I could tell the difference (unless it was Jordan pre-op).
And wtf is split vision?
Great joke by the way. Do you write all your own stuff?
40 CRAIGG // Feb 21, 2008 at 19:06
Tom_toon how many matches have you watched of milners his crossing is nowhere near as bad a you make out
41 Swede1891 // Feb 21, 2008 at 19:11
Chicken..i´ll give you one thing.., you have humour! Blindfolded is btw what Milner mostly seem to be when he´s charging down that right wing…:)..but since im swedish i sincerely hope he makes the full england squad…so we can keep our good record vs. england..
42 Leo* // Feb 21, 2008 at 19:16
you have a good point. lol
43 cooldj // Feb 21, 2008 at 19:20
jimmy milner - love the guy and easily good enough for the mo.
will probably get one or two full caps in the future but not a lot else. A solid, hard working player who hasn’t really progressed as we would have liked.
HIS crossing isn’t bad but to be a winger with his pace it needs to be like beckhams. don’t know if he could play anywhere else though. cm? rb? resevers?
44 nightfall // Feb 21, 2008 at 20:11
cooldj - what about as a striker? he started as one back at leeds, but was than played as a winger ‘cos of smith & viduka…
45 cooldj // Feb 21, 2008 at 20:17
perhaps-hasn’t got that many goals to date though… i think a RB might work
46 Gordon // Feb 21, 2008 at 21:38
Chicken
Fact: The earth isn’t round you prat! It’s flattened on the top and bottom. Muppet.
47 Ausgeordie // Feb 21, 2008 at 22:10
Ed why is Carr’s name not in the poll for who we would like to see go? I think if he had been Smith or Butt may have been saved.
To be honest I dont care if Ameobi stays as he does not cost a lot and his woeful performances mean he rarely gets first team football. And Roz is on loan and can stay that way! Who cares?
Better to clean the team of money and time wasters.
48 Obafan // Feb 22, 2008 at 8:53
Chicken and Craigg; do you both know anything about football? Okay Milner puts in lots of effort, but that is just not enough. He is not good enough, Championship level at highest. Someone said Tottenham Villa level; no they have got much better wingers than our Milner.
Craigg: how can you attack our strikers by saying that they don’t know where to run to get at the end of Milners crosses.
98% of Milners crosses are too wide; are behind the goal or are training for the keeper. Come on be honnest about this m8.
1% of his crosses are good; perhaps there is some danger.
1% of his crosses are very good; resulting in goals like Villa.
49 Greek-toon // Feb 22, 2008 at 9:26
The earth is in fact an oblate spheroid, so there! it is flattened at the poles (bulges at the equator) due to the effect of centrifugal force.
50 CRAIGG // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:42
Obafan i’ll bet i know a huge ammount more about Newcastle united than you son.
I can attack our strikers plenty mate i go to SJP week in week out and Ameobi and smith arent good enough, Viduka is too fu**ing lazy and owen and martins are too small
Ask sibierski last season if milners crossing is so bad he set up a f**kin hatful last year and he would do this season if the strikers were bigger, better or bothered. His crossing aint 100% but his is a thousand times better than championship level. His crossing will improve and his attitude is what real fans love about him if our more talented players Duff, Emre, Barton, Viduka etc. put in the effort and pride into their matches we would be a damn sight higher inthe table.
51 CRAIGG // Feb 22, 2008 at 10:43
Obafan i’ll bet i know a huge ammount more about Newcastle united than you son.
I can attack our strikers plenty mate i go to SJP week in week out and Ameobi and smith arent good enough, Viduka is too f**king lazy and owen and martins are too small
Ask sibierski last season if milners crossing is so bad he set up a f***kin hatful last year and he would do this season if the strikers were bigger, better or bothered. His crossing aint 100% but his is a thousand times better than championship level. His crossing will improve and his attitude is what real fans love about him if our more talented players Duff, Emre, Barton, Viduka etc. put in the effort and pride into their matches we would be a damn sight higher inthe table.
52 Ian // Feb 22, 2008 at 18:21
Aus geordie, that is a good point about Ameobi, if he is cheap enough maybe we should keep him, especially the way Viduka and Owen injure, if Martins twisted his ankle when they are both off sick who would you be left with without Ameobi that might possibly score a goal, not Carroll in the first team or Smith??
53 Ian // Feb 22, 2008 at 18:26
Craigg, I agree Viduka is lazy, but he didnt cost us a transfer fee his wages arent over the top, he scores more per game than Owen and because he is so laid back the big games dont bother him at all, so he is good value, I like Djibril Cisse, he can be a pain like Bellamy was, but he scores at all levels including International level, but even a player with problems like that probably will not come here, so short players or whatever we are going struggle to get the best at the moment.
54 Obafan // Feb 22, 2008 at 18:27
Craigg - Well I’m from Belgium and I’ve got the bad luck that it is very difficult for me to travel to the north of England to watch a game; I watch every game online or via Belgian television broadcast (Prime Sports; each week 3 games live from the EPL). If you go tomorrow I hope your comment will have a truth in it, cause how on Earth can you say that ATM? The crosses from Milner good, come on. Hopefully you have seen this in your magical ball that Milner is a great crosses at Saturday 23/02/2008.
I have to support you 200% about Smith and Ameobi; they are waste of space, every time again. But why does KK keep Smith play every game??? It just makes no sence.
I do not attack you or it is not my intention to do. If you go tomorrow shout for me too
, and lets hope that we get a fantastic result. Cause we need it and that is really what we both want.
Cheers m8.
55 Ian // Feb 22, 2008 at 18:28
We should have given Sibierski a two year contract though shouldnt we?? Put him back in midfield.
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