Former Liverpool midfielder James Milner has shared a tense dressing room bust-up between himself and Jurgen Klopp.
He joined the Reds in 2015 and spent 8 years at the club, amassing over 330 appearances. Milner spent seven-and-a-half of those 8 seasons under Klopp. The Englishman was even the club’s vice captain almost throughout his time at the Anfield. He was certainly a leader and Klopp must’ve trusted him a lot, but there were also a few tense moments between them.
James Milner admits to infuriating Klopp
Milner emphasized that he always had a “great relationship” with his Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. However, he admitted that he once left the Liverpool manager so angry in the dressing room at half-time that he hit a table.
“He was pretty good, he was open,” Milner told The High Performance Podcast when he was asked about Klopp. “Not so at halftime; we had one moment where he was sharing his thoughts and I was sharing mine and I remember him smashing his hands on down the table and shouting, ‘Will you shut the f**k up!’ But Jurgen was brilliant, we had a great relationship and we were great off the pitch.”
Manager wanted to keep Milner but the club hierarchy felt differently
Despite the odd clash, it is no secret that Klopp valued Milner very highly. The German was keen to keep the versatile veteran at the Anfield.
However, Milner himself revealed shortly before his Liverpool exit that the club hierarchy felt differently. In the end they had the final say in the decision. He said back in May: “It’s all good because the manager wanted to keep me – which as a player is what you want. Obviously the club decided a different way. In my head it felt like it could be a good time, so I’m content with how it’s all come about.
“It was probably about three weeks ago that I heard from the club. Because I hadn’t heard anything, in my own mind I had probably decided myself that I would be going. I will continue to play football, so yes I could be back in front of the Kop potentially. It’s an option.”
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