Milner highlights Klopp’s persuasion power

James Milner has been reflecting on Jurgen Klopp’s decision to play him at left-back when all he wanted was to play in central midfield for Liverpool – the key reason he moved from Manchester City to Anfield.

Milner believes many players would probably not have accepted such a seismic shift. He said he considered leaving but that Klopp’s power of persuasion led him to try it – and stay with the team that just won the EPL for the first time in thirty years.

“It was what the manager needed at the time,” Milner told Sky Sports 

“There’s always going to be positions you prefer but you do what’s needed for the team.

“I suppose at that point I could have turned around and said, ‘No I don’t want to do that, I want to leave.’

“He came to ask me to do it in pre-season and my mindset was, ‘OK, how can I be the best I can be in that position?’ and I started to learn the role.

“A few of the boys were a bit surprised when we set up at pre-season training the next day and I was at left-back, but that was part of the fun.”

Milner was happy to see how much Klopp’s decisions were changing the direction of the team and for the good of the team.

He said: “You can see how he is around the team, but it’s also wanting to be part of that.

“Do you want to walk away from Liverpool and a manager of his calibre and not be part of something? I did the job as best I could and the year after that I don’t know what was in his mind.”

“Maybe he thought, ‘Left-back, that’s him done,’ so it was a challenge to force my way back into the reckoning in midfield and I managed to do that.”