With James Milner breaking the Premier League-era appearance record, a former Liverpool fitness coach has explained how the Reds’ former No. 7 achieved such longevity.
Since making his debut as a fresh-faced 16-year-old for Leeds in November 2002, Milner has played 654 times in the English top flight, more than any other player in the Premier League era.
The club Milner has run out for most is Liverpool, making 332 occasions for the Reds in all competitions from 2015 until 2023.
Fitness coach Jordan Fairclough joined the club in 2017 and spent six years working with Milner. He has explained to The Redmen TV how the midfielder has managed to enjoy such a long career.
LONDON, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 27, 2022: Liverpool's assistant fitness coach Jordan Fairclough runs onto the pitch to give Andy Robertson energy gels during the Football League Cup Final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool won 11-10 on penalties after a goal-less draw. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“He was really easy but also quite challenging at times to work with,” said the former first-team physical performance coach who left in February 2025.
“He does everything to a tee. He looks after himself diet-wise, gym-wise, sleep-wise. When there’s an option to sleep in a hotel or not, he’ll take the option because it’s a better night’s sleep.
“[He had a] private yoga instructor at home to look after his mobility in that sense, but he’ll question everything.
“He wants to know what’s best for him and it’s worked.
“Millie looked after himself and I think a really key thing to say is he probably looked after himself his whole career. It wasn’t something he decided to do when he turned 33 or 34.
“He took it seriously from a young age.”
James Milner’s mentality drove him to outperform data
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, October 11, 2022: Liverpool's James Milner during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Champions League Group A matchday 4 game between Glasgow Rangers FC and Liverpool FC. (Pic by Jessica Hornby/Propaganda)
One of the keys to Milner’s endurance has been his commitment to hard work on the training pitch, pushing himself past what coaches expect of him.
During pre-season under Jurgen Klopp, the lactate test became one of the methods of acquiring a player’s fitness levels.
The squad were tasked with running around one of the Kirkby pitches at a series of different intervals and paces, with blood tests taken after every interval to test for levels of lactic acid.
If a player was above a certain amount, they would then drop out of the drill. Milner would always win.
“He’s a beast,” Fairclough stated.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Monday, November 4, 2019: Liverpool's James Milner during a training session at Melwood Training Ground ahead of the UEFA Champions League Group E match between Liverpool FC and KRC Genk. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“James Milner, his lactate score will say ‘X’, but his mentality to be able to run with the lactate and the pain in his legs was really high.
“So what would happen is, we’d get his score, we’d group him in say the second or third group for the 1km runs, but James Milner being James Milner was like, ‘Well, no. I know I can do the runs faster than that so I’m just going to go into the higher groups’.
“And we kind of just let him do it because that was Millie. He would smash the lactate test.
“He just ran until he couldn’t run anymore even if his blood lactate was off the charts. I don’t think he ever got beat when I was there.”
Fairclough hasn’t been the only coach to praise Milner for his attitude; Arne Slot has also said that he and Jordan Henderson were among those who are still most talked about at the training ground as being influential in the club’s success.
“Having people like him in the training ground, in the gym with younger players around is huge,” Fairclough said.
“I look at Mo and Sadio for that as well, first two in the gym. I think they were quietly competing with each other. It just kind of sets a really good example. It just sets a really really good culture.
“It wasn’t necessarily because of us as staff, it just came organically.
“The culture to look after ourselves in the gym was amazing and it was led by your Millies, Mos, Sadios, Hendos and then the younger players start to get into that, and before you know it, every new player that comes is like ‘Oh, OK. We do gym properly here’.”
That is a culture that has continued under Slot, with Salah and Curtis Jones among those most committed to their work in the gym.
While there may have been changes to the intensity of training outdoors, the focus on hard work and discipline regarding fitness levels remains.