England v San Marino: James Milner still proud to put team before any tantrums

Midfielder will not alter professional approach despite unfair ‘boring’ tag

James Milner on dealing with being dropped: 'It is no good for the team if someone sulks or disrupts training' (PA)

For a moment, James Milner was forced to contemplate an alternative reality, one in which a bad James Milner did all the things he had never done – sulk, mess about in training, refuse to track back – and he decided that, all things considered, he would rather do it his way.

It has become the fundamental question for Milner, now 28, with 50 caps, as he reaches the peak of his career: how does he put up with being overlooked time and again for club and country? Against Switzerland in the last Euro 2016 qualifier, it was Fabian Delph who was promoted into the first team and against San Marino and Estonia in the next four days, Milner could well find himself watching from the bench again.

He accepts that a persona has been created for him, largely the notion he is loyal, reliable, uncomplaining and, well, boring, propagated in no small part by his @BoringMilner Twitter alter ego. But what, he asks, are his alternatives? “So I should stop working hard,” he said, “become a lazy player and start doing things I shouldn’t to get rid of a ‘boring Milner’ tag?

“That’s the thing. If you don’t drink, you try to train hard, work hard, then you’re boring. But if you go out, do things you shouldn’t do then you’re a disgrace. Where’s the line? It’s either one extreme or the other. It’s irrelevant to me what people think, to be honest. The most important people to me are my friends, family and team-mates. Outside of that, people will have opinions.”

His press briefing at St George’s Park ahead of Thursday’s game against San Marino was, it should be said, anything but boring. It was a clear-headed, good-humoured examination of the curious dilemma of an honest English pro at the elite end of his sport; a footballer whose core qualities of reliability and selflessness were paradoxically the things that also, at times, could have held back his career.

He was back in the Manchester City team for Saturday’s win over Aston Villa after another fine substitute’s performance against Roma in the Champions League, although he could not be described as a regular for Manuel Pellegrini. For England, he lost his starting place early last year and was a marginal figure at the World Cup this summer. Would it be more difficult for managers to leave him out if he was more awkward?

“There is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it, in my opinion,” Milner said. “Maybe in some ways it does count against you if you don’t sulk or ruin training when you get left out. I am not naming names – I have played with enough players for you to decide who that might be. The manager knows I will just carry on training as hard as I can and force him round that way. But it is no good for the team if someone sulks or disrupts training. The team comes first.”

James Milner training at St George’s Park (Reuters)

Later, he added: “It may be in the back of the mind of the manager – ‘I had a bit of an earful last time [from a certain player], I don’t really want [him] to be dropped’. But if I feel I am not getting a fair crack of the whip, I do go and see the manager to tell him I want to be playing and make my point.”

As for the dour public persona, he says he is comfortable with what he is. “If I change my Yorkshire accent, that might change something. But I’m stuck with that and I’m proud of it. At times, I do think if I’m a bit lazier, [just] do the attacking side of the game, would people notice me more?”

He does not regret his five years at City, especially given the trophies he has won – “It’s an amazing club why would you want to leave?” – and it will be interesting to see what he does about a contract that expires next summer. Showing the kind of initiative you would expect of Milner, he has learned Spanish to the level that he is now able to converse with his Spanish-speaking team-mates.

One thing is for certain, he has no intention of turning his back on international football. He drops into the conversation his record 46 Under-21s caps and his resolve that he “would never have turned down playing for the Under-21s, because it is playing for England”.

As for @BoringMilner, a phenomenon he discussed before the summer’s World Cup, it is hardly the worst insult levelled at a footballer. “It’s a funny thing,” Milner said, “and 300,000 people [the account’s followers] agree with it so, you know – I haven’t checked it for a while. I’ll have to have a look.”