James Milner exclusive: Ex-Liverpool star reveals the 'important' piece of advice Jurgen Klopp gave him about starting his own coaching journey

Milner’s history-making career has spanned almost a quarter of a century, having made his senior debut for Leeds in 2002 at 16 years of age. He has gone on to represent Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool - becoming a three-time Premier League title winner - while earning 61 caps for the Three Lions.

The exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luka Modric have been emulated when playing beyond the age of 40 - at the very highest level - but a day will come in which boots have to be hung up for the final time.

With vast experience being accumulated, a move from the field and onto the touchline would make a lot of sense for Milner. He is beginning to give some thought to heading down that path, telling GOAL - while speaking as part of Specsavers’ Best Worst Team project - when asked if he intends to impart wisdom at first team or academy level: “It's a tricky one. I've done my B and A, UEFA B and A licence. I enjoy the stuff, helping the younger boys on the training field.

“The manager [Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler] involved me a lot in the coaching side last year when I was injured and involving me in their meetings and stuff and there's a lot I enjoy to it. It's also a very hard job and you see how hard they're working and you see managers flying and get manager of the month and a new contract and they get sacked seven games later! So it's a very difficult job to do, one that sometimes I think I'd love to have a go at, especially with it being tough. I've got that mindset that you want to go and show you can do it. But who knows? 

“Jurgen told me when you finish the first thing you need to do is have a break. I think when you've been at the intensity I've been at for as many years as I have, I think that's important, to take stock and have a little break and work out what the next step is and see where we go from there. But there's definitely aspects of the coaching side I love. Being on the pitch and helping the players and finding it quite easy to see things in a session, what's not quite right. But then obviously you need to learn your skills on the other side, session planning. 

“I feel fortunate that I've been a senior player for quite a while, starting so young. So when you become a senior player, you start thinking about, rather than yourself, you're thinking about the team. How does that impact the team? What does this player need? How is his mindset different to this player? So I feel with that and being with Jurgen and the manager now in terms of him involving me, I feel like my understanding has been pretty good and I've had quite a good apprenticeship around thinking about the team and more on that in between a player and a coach side for a few years now. 

“So I think that's something that's an advantage to me if I did go into that. And I've been very fortunate with who I've worked with and the players I've worked with and the managers. So it would be a shame not to pass it on to the next generation, I suppose.”

Having already got a brief taste of coaching at Brighton, Milner has also put his skills to the test in Specsavers’ Best Worst Team initiative as he attempts to deliver a reversal in fortune for Warley FC - a team that managed just one win last season, while suffering 18 defeats and conceding 81 goals.

Asked if that adventure proves that marginal gains make the difference at any level of the football pyramid, Milner said: “100%. I think probably at that level, it's even bigger than it is at the highest level. I feel when you get to the top, the little 1% is such a fine margin between winning and losing and it's so close. But I think the lower down you go, if you're working on your fitness or you're not having your kebab at four o'clock in the morning before an eight o'clock meet and things like that, I think obviously that'll help. 

“But it was great going down and seeing the guys and it was a great bunch and we had a good laugh. And, yeah, I think that shows the level of the changes you can make from a few things, especially at that level.”

Milner is not ready to swap shin pads and GPS vests for a whistle and tactics board just yet, but is nice to have options and he has earned the right to dictate what happens next after enjoying the kind of longevity that many can only dream about.

Warley FC's transformation is being documented by Specsavers in its ‘Best Worst Team’ YouTube series. Watch James Milner in episode 6 and subscribe to the Specsavers’ Best Worst Team YouTube Channel to follow the team's journey.