When Steven Gerrard was doing his best to burn himself out ahead of England’s doomed World Cup bid last summer he was nicknamed the marathon man by dumbstruck pundits who marvelled at his motivation, fitness and dedication to the cause.
Starting the season in mid-July with Liverpool’s Champions League qualifiers, Gerrard went on to play 57 games for club and country during the 2005/6 campaign, culminating in a match-winning display in the FA Cup Final in Cardiff in May.
It was a remarkable effort from one of the modern era’s most influential players, but no wonder Liverpool’s inspirational skipper looked knackered in Germany - although I’d be tired of trying to play alongside Frank “I always shoot� Lampard by now as well!
But, if Gerrard’s effort was a courageous and commendable one, what can we say about James Milner?
The Newcastle United youngster has already notched up 40 games for his club this season and another six for the England Under 21 side. Not bad for a player who was almost sold to Aston Villa in the summer and only returned to St James’s Park because Mark Viduka didn’t fancy the trip up the A19!
The tubby Australian has undoubtedly done Newcastle a favour - although questions must be asked as to exactly why Glenn Roeder was willing to let the England Under 21 international leave - because Milner has been, along with Nicky Butt’s rejuvenation, the biggest success story of another topsy-turvy campaign.
I hope this doesn’t end up cursing the 21 year-old, but Milner has been the odd man out this season - not because he was deemed surplus to requirements in the summer - but because he hasn’t missed a single game through injury.
He has been playing with a slight ankle problem for the last month, but it is a mark of the man that, where others would have cried off to the treatment room, he has refused to miss a single game.
And who knows, if Newcastle do the unthinkable - remember the protests that followed the 1-0 home defeat to Sheffield United last November and make it to the Uefa Cup Final in Glasgow in May, Milner’s effort will have been every bit as impressive - if not more so given his circumstances - as Gerrard’s.
Newcastle have a minimum of 13 games left this season which would take Milner - if he stays fit - to 59 games in a season. If Newcastle progress to the Uefa Cup final he could have played an incredible 64 games for the Magpies.
Thankfully he won’t have a major international tournament to let everybody down in this summer!
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