Top 44 James Milner Quotes

It’s an unbelievable achievement to win the FA Cup. I’ve been lucky to win it before, and I’d love to win it again.

I remember Nigel Martyn joking with me at Leeds, saying he was old enough to be my father, which he certainly was.

For me, if you play at Anfield, it is not a tactical game.

I set higher standards than anyone and don’t need anyone to tell me when I’ve played badly or not had a good game.

I think you always want to see your former clubs doing well.

City are a great club, and I had five great years there and enjoyed every minute. The fans were brilliant with me the whole time there, and that made the decision difficult.

When I’m sat at 45 and retired, I want to look back and see what I’ve done and that I’ve played games rather than having come to the end of my career and tailed off.

I would never say never. You never know what is going to happen.

I contribute in many different ways to the team. I’ve played a hell of a lot of games in my career, and you can stake any argument on the stats.

I think the first time I had to play at left-back was at Manchester United in the Europa League.

I never really got that chance at Manchester City and developed into a utility player. Playing in all the positions has made me a better player because it’s not easy to do that. Understanding the game has made me a more rounded player as well.

I’ve started the coaching badges. I did some at Aston Villa, but things got in the way.’

I only properly played golf when I was 15 or 16. The best course I’ve done? Pebble Beach in California.

Liverpool is a great fit for me as a club. It’s a huge club, and there is a lot of pressure every time you step out onto that field. I’ve played in front of the Anfield crowd, and it’ll be nice to be on the other side of the fans now.

I speak to my mum and dad about the club, and my uncle and all my mates are big Leeds fans as well. They’re on the up, if you like. It’s a better situation than it was when they were in League One not so long ago.

Eating the right things and doing the right things off the field are important. You see players like Ryan Giggs and Gareth Barry. If you look after yourself, you have a chance of playing a long time.

Fitness has always been a strength of mine. People seem to look at ages and think once you get over 30, you’re coming to the end. I’d like to think I’ve got a number of years left in me. I feel really good, and that’s down to the great work the staff at the club do looking after us and the facilities we have.

Losing a cup final is massively disappointing, but you can accept it if you play to your potential.

One place I’d love to go is Augusta. My uncle’s been to watch the Masters a couple of times and said you don’t realise on television how hilly it is. When you walk the course, you’re hiking up hills, but on TV it all seems so manicured.

At Leeds, it was to stay up. I was such a young player, Leeds were my club, and we didn’t do it. That was a lot to take. At Newcastle, the expectations to win a trophy were enormous. The No. 1 thing everyone up there thinks about is the football club.

Things move on quickly in football. You win the FA Cup: ‘So?’ We won the league the next year: ‘So what? Go out and win it again.’

You can look at every game, some where I’ve been a defensive player and others where I’ve had an impact.

I don’t really believe in bogey teams. The results might just be a coincidence, but we need to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen at Wembley.

What Liverpool do really well is they try to get you inside but then close you down.

I want to play as much football as I can.

You are a long time retired. I don’t want to sit there when that happens and think, ‘Oh, I wish I had done that better’. I just think everything I can do, that is always the way that I have been. I don’t want to have any regrets.

I was going to a good club in Newcastle and working with an unbelievable manager in Bobby Robson. It was the best for Leeds, and in the end, it worked out well for me as well.

Anyone would love to have the medal and a major trophy on their CV. When you reach Wembley, you think of the amount of hours you have put in training throughout your life, all the games you have played up to that point, and if you win a trophy, it is there forever as a reward.

At a club like City, there are things in the papers and talk all the time. Ever since I’ve been a footballer, I have coped with that.

When a new manager comes in, you have to prove yourself all over again. That’s what you have to do every day and keep your standards high.

I think the first time I finished a season with the same manager who started it was Martin O’Neill at Villa, probably five seasons into my career.

The moments when you win a trophy or achieve something – they are few and far between. You have to enjoy them when they come. You don’t want any regrets. Hopefully I have still got a few years left.

To be in the last four of the biggest competition is where you want to be and where Liverpool have been as a club many times in the past.

Newcastle was tough – the manager who’d signed me, Bobby Robson, got sacked three games into the season, so a new manager arrived, and I ended up going on loan again, to Aston Villa.

As a professional, you want to get as much as you can out of your career, play at the top level, and win trophies. Playing with top players at Manchester City, I’ve got a great chance of doing that, and I just want to keep improving.

I remember my first Christmas with Leeds, training Christmas Day. I wasn’t old enough to drive yet – so I had to get picked up and taken in!

I’ve always dreamt of being a footballer. You only get one shot at a career like this, and I want to be the best professional I can. Anything I can do that means I can get the best out of my ability is what I’ll try and do.

It’s not like I’m against alcohol. It’s just a decision I made, and if you’ve never had it, you don’t miss it. I’ve been drenched in champagne a few times over my career. I might have a drink if England win the World Cup. That’s one moment where I might.

I was a wicket-keeper who opened the batting. Could I have made it? Hard to say. I probably wouldn’t quite have been good enough. I might get back into it once I’ve finished with the football.

I could lose every Old Firm game I go into and still win the league.

I don’t think I’d like to be that guy who does disrupt training. I always feel the team comes first, and that’s the way it is, and me being a disruptive influence, because I’m not playing, doesn’t help the team.

When someone has an opinion, even if it ends up misquoted, people jump on it.

I remember my dad ringing me up and giving me my GCSE results when I was at Thorp Arch for pre-season training. A month later, I was playing in the first team. It was pretty amazing, really. I think if you stopped and thought about it at the time, it would have hit you.

Individual players don’t win titles no matter how good you are as a player. The best players in the world need a team around them. It is about the team, and we are playing for the badge.