James Milner Proves Immense Value for Manchester City in Chelsea Draw

Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday grabbed headlines for a number of reasons. Frank Lampard scoring the equalizer against his old club led the way, with Pablo Zabaleta's sending-off and Manuel Pellegrini's "small team" jibe not far behind.

However, the play of a pair of City players cannot be overlooked.

Eliaquim Mangala finally made his bow for his new club after his protracted £32 million move from Porto and looked strong against Diego Costa. His size and pace were on display as he looks a more than capable partner for Vincent Kompany.

Also putting in a solid shift at the Etihad was the never-boring James Milner. The England international was handed a rare start in City's midfield and excelled, culminating his performance by assisting Lampard's tying goal.

As much as Milner get overshadowed by some of the talent he plays alongside, his performances rarely go unnoticed. He doesn't have the silky touch of a David Silva or Samir Nasri, the pace of Jesus Navas nor the brute force of Yaya Toure.

He's not an elite talent of that nature, but he does everything he needs to do and does it excellently. He can pass, he can score. He defends, he attacks. He works and works and works some more.

Even when he's not getting frequent minutes, his passion is evident even before he hits the pitch. You can always tell by looking at him that he's ready to go. He won't make a show of himself, he just puts in the work.

This style of play—not flashy, just getting the job done and always putting the team ahead of himself—is likely part of what led to the creation of the brilliant "Boring James Milner" Twitter account.

"

Told Caballero I got the winner last time we played Bayern. He said You've already said, James. I said Really? I don't like to mention it.

— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) September 17, 2014"

In the high-importance games like against a Bayern or Chelsea, Milner always seems to come up big when called upon. In the mentioned game, a 3-2 victory over Bayern Munich last December, Milner bagged an assist, won a penalty and scored the winner in a superb outing.

Milner's role, typically barraging down the right side of the midfield, means he gets to play in front of and often alongside Pablo Zabaleta.

The Argentinian's similar hustle-and-bustle approach sees him flying up and down the pitch with regularity, leaving Milner to occupy the space left at the back if needed. He's always up to the task, using his positional smarts to slot in seamlessly to stem the tide while Zabaleta tracks back.

Of course, there come times like we saw on Sunday when Zabaleta's hard-man approach will get him in trouble.

Milner's ability and willingness to do the dirty work has seen him slot in at right-back on a few occasions, and he can certainly do so mid-game if needed. As B/R's Rob Pollard noted, he gave Chelsea left-back Cesar Azpilicueta a "torrid time" with his running before filling Zabaleta's gap at the back after the dismissal.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

He then shifted out to the left side of defense, and it was from that position where he delivered the vital cross. He drove his team forward with his directness as they hunted down the equalizer while simultaneously calming the pressure Chelsea could create with their extra body.

And therein lies the reason why he wasn't sold over the summer.

Given that his playing time is sporadic and that he was being played "out of position" from the central-midfield role he occupied at Aston Villa, rumors flew that he could be on his way out. But nothing came of it, and Pellegrini has been duly rewarded.

Milner's versatility makes him the ultimate wild card in Pellegrini's hand in a pinch. With Yaya Toure struggling massively for form, it's plausible to think that he could slot in alongside Fernando or Fernandinho if necessary.

If Zabaleta gets himself suspended through bookings or a sending-off, Milner can fill that role as well—though having Bacary Sagna available may lessen the need for that.

While he may never be a fixture in Pellegrini's starting XIs, he never shows any sign of it getting to him. Given his penchant for coming up aces in crunch time, the Chilean may yet have to consider making him one.

He never stops working, he can play seemingly anywhere on the field and he's a true team-first professional. The fact that Pellegrini held onto him shows that "The Engineer" knows just what is needed for his City team to continue their high level of success.

Milner joined City in 2010, the first full season under Roberto Mancini. The move was for around £26 million, per BBC Sport, with the Italian stating at the time that Milner "can improve and be a great player for Manchester City for a long time."

At the time, the fee might've seemed a bit high. After all, this was a pretty "boring" player compared to fellow summer signings like Silva, Toure and Mario Balotelli.

But when you think about the last four seasons, all the trophies that have been won and all the moments where Milner's stepped up big, that almost seems a bargain now. Remember, Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll combined for £85 million in fees not much long after that.

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

In many ways, he's not really that dissimilar to Angel Di Maria—he of the £59.7 million fee, per Sky Sports. They're both versatile, hard-working big-game heroes. Interestingly, Di Maria was older on deadline day (26) than Milner was when he joined City (24).

Di Maria might have the fancy footwork and step-overs and the prestige of having played for Real Madrid and won the Champions League. But put those to the side and it's tough to argue that the Argentinian is really more than twice as valuable as Milner.

Pollard advocated for City brass to tie Milner down to a new contract sooner rather than later. The lack of regular playing time may be a concern, especially as he inches closer to the downside of his career, but you won't know it by reading into Milner's play.

Hopefully for City fans and staff alike, he agrees to stick around a good while longer. Without James Milner, this team would be nowhere near where they are and have been in recent years.

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