A former Liverpool stalwart opened up about a rare heated moment with Jurgen Klopp during their relationship at Anfield
James Milner once faced the fury of former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp in the changing room. Milner was a consummate professional throughout his eight-year tenure at Anfield, which spanned from 2015 to 2023.
The mercurial midfielder operated across various positions and consistently maintained his high standards, regularly topping Liverpool’s annual pre-season lactate test well into his 30s. Naturally, this made him one of Klopp’s most trusted and favoured players, with the German having arrived at the club only four months after the Englishman.
However, there was one unusual occasion when Milner found himself among those reprimanded by the mastermind manager. Milner, now 40 and still featuring for Brighton, revealed on the High Performance podcast in 2023 how he provoked Klopp’s anger in the dressing room during one half-time interval.
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“He was pretty good most of the time, he was open,” said Milner. “Maybe not at half-time, we had one occasion where he was sharing his thoughts and I was sharing mine.”
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Recounting Klopp’s six-word remark during the exchange, he added: “I remember him smashing his hands down on the table like, ‘Will you shut the f*** up?!’
“But Jurgen was brilliant. I had a great relationship with him, off the field as well, he supported our charity (the James Milner Foundation) as well, so much.”
Milner, who has now surpassed Gareth Barry to become the Premier League’s record appearance holder, went on to explain what distinguished Klopp as an exceptional manager. This was prior to his 2024 exit when he took up the role of Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer.
He continued: “An amazing manager. I always felt like most of the time he was open and even if he didn’t feel like the conversation, he gave you stuff back so you felt like he’d thought about it afterwards. Even if he didn’t tell you that, you’d see it with things he did after and I felt like he was good at taking things on board.
“He’s a leader, he makes the decisions, but if you’ve put something in his head and it’s helped, he was pretty good at listening to things like that, I saw him change a lot in the time I was there.”
Milner is even contemplating emulating Klopp’s path once he eventually retires from playing. Though he was given some crucial counsel from his former manager before venturing into coaching.
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“I’ve done my badges and things like that,” Milner told talkSPORT. “Some days I think it’s a really good idea, other days you see people getting a new contract and managers getting sacked six weeks later. That doesn’t look too appealing.
“You see the stress those guys have and the amount of media they have to do and the responsibility they take on, it is a very difficult job which, again, it does appeal to me because it is so difficult. It is something you think, ‘I could do that, I’ll show you.’
“Jurgen Klopp always said to me that whenever you finish, it’s important you have a rest when you’ve been 100 miles an hour for as long as I have. So I think whenever that happens, that will be the first port of call and we’ll see where we go from there.”
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Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
