James Milner has revealed how he sent Jurgen Klopp off when the two clashed during the Liverpool manager’s half-team meeting.
Milner, who turns 38 today, joined the Reds on a free transfer from Brighton & Hove Albion last summer, completing eight seasons at the Anfield club. He won all of Liverpool’s major honours, scoring 26 goals and providing 45 assists in 332 appearances as the club’s vice-captain before deciding to seek pastures new before his contract with the club expired. But despite the pair’s strong bond, that doesn’t mean they never had a row during their time together on Merseyside.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Milner recalled once honking his horn angrily during the team’s half-time chat. “He was very kind and open,” Milner said of their relationship.
“It’s not like that during the break. The moment he spoke his mind and I spoke mine, he slapped his hand on the table and said, “Shut up! I remember her screaming.”But Jurgen was great, we had a good relationship and he was great on the pitch.”It’s not the first time the pair have hinted at engaging in an intense match at halftime.
Former Manchester United defender Ragnar Klavan has told how Milner and Klopp came to blows.”Where do we play when Klopp is angry?” The Estonian recalled on the Betsafe Eesti podcast when asked about Klopp’s hairdryer treatment. “It’s my first season, my first season at Liverpool.
The biggest pressure was Christmas and the beginning of January. I don’t remember who we played with. Maybe against Sunderland. Klopp and James Milner began to fight. On Boxing Day in England, they began to fight, but Milner backed down.”I saw in Klopp’s eyes that he would do anything to prove his point.
This was also the most stressful thing for him. He was under a lot of pressure. “This was my first year and Klopp’s second year. What are you doing? You are expected to be a good trainer. You are Jurgen Klopp, you turn every player into a superstar.
The pressure started to get to him.”It shouldn’t be easy, but if you don’t play against teams like Sunderland, you can forget where you’re going.” But after the podcast made headlines in English football in September 2021, Klopp put an end to the scandal. “It has to be a big misunderstanding,” Klopp told Sky Sports. “I don’t know what Ragnar’s level is, but he wasn’t up to a duel.” Now I know what he’s talking about, but I didn’t go in his direction. “Everybody knows what I look like when I talk or shout. It looks offensive rather than offensive.
Maybe Ragnar hasn’t gotten used to it yet. “It was nothing. James Milner would never do that and neither would I. “All is well.”Klavan was due to explain his comments in an exclusive interview with the ECHO later this year. “I think it was translated from an Estonian podcast, but the translation wasn’t very good!” he said “I didn’t say we were going to fight.
What I tell them is that there are times when things get heated.“But it shows that everyone wants to win and there is excitement to help the team and move forward. I don’t think that’s what we fought for.“When you put a lot of emotion and energy into a room, anything can happen. But it was always done for a good cause and for the benefit of the team.”
Of course, only those who were present in the Liverpool dressing room at the time can confirm with absolute certainty whether the altercation revealed by Milner was the one Klavan remembered, or whether such discrepancies actually occurred on more than one occasion.
Outside spectators never get to see what happens during such team talks and Klopp has previously said he would leave the club if TV cameras were invited into his dressing room.However, Milner’s latest statement sets the stage for the strong emotions that will be bubbling in the Liverpool dressing room as Klopp tries to orchestrate a victory.
