James Milner has now been speaking about Manchester City and Manuel Pellegrini.
The 37-year-old was chatting to Jake Humphrey on the High Performance podcast.
So, what did James Milner say about Manuel Pellegrini? Let’s take a look…
What James Milner said about Manuel Pellegrini
Well, the Brighton No.6 told Humphrey that he was flabbergasted at what the Chilean said to him after Manchester City won the League Cup in the 2013/14 campaign.
The Citizens came from behind to beat Sunderland 3-1 at Wembley thanks to goals from Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas.
Milner – who was booed on his return to Manchester City earlier this season – had played most of that League Cup campaign, but was strangely benched by Pellegrini when the showpiece event came around.
Speaking about that decision and constantly fighting off competition at Manchester City, the man from Leeds said: “Yeah, it was (exhausting). I did find it hard for sure (always fighting for a place in the side) because I knew I had periods where I played really well, and played anywhere for the team. The team always comes first. I would play every game in the League Cup, but then I got left out of the final.
“It was Pellegrini at the time. After the final he said to me, you deserved to play. I was like, what am I meant to do with that? How do you deal with that? I just worked harder.”
James Milner clearly wanted more than he was getting at Manchester City
That is incredibly harsh from the 70-year-old, and his comments shed plenty of light on Milner’s decision to leave Manchester City.
Milner made three appearances in the League Cup that season – known as the Capital One Cup back then – impressively providing four assists.
The man who won 61 caps for England then departed Manchester City for Liverpool on a free transfer back in June 2015 after clearly feeling unvalued at the Etihad Stadium.
Things worked out for Milner as he lifted the Premier League and UEFA Champions League at Liverpool among other trophies, although he may have continued doing that in sky blue if Pellegrini made him feel more valued.
