James Milner mocked noisy Liverpool teammate Jordan Henderson on Twitter ahead of England’s goalless draw against Croatia on Friday night.
Milner jokingly claimed on his personal social media account he was “looking forward to everyone hearing Hendo’s screams tonight” as the national team prepared to do battle in the behind-closed-doors clash in Rijeka.
Looking forward to everyone hearing Hendo’s screams tonight ? ???????#watchyourlanguage#youcanhearwhatwehear#mutebutton https://t.co/cL56NyDhQn
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) October 12, 2018
Henderson played the full 90 minutes of the match, which was televised on Sky Sports but played out to a near-deserted, echoing stadium in which viewers could hear what was being said by some of the players.
OPINION
Milner is good mates with fellow midfielder Henderson, but he is clearly having a dig at the constant hectoring and bossiness of the Liverpool skipper. This is normally drowned out by supporters as Liverpool and England normally play to packed-out arenas, but the Croatia-England match was an atmosphere-free zone as part of Croatia’s punishment after a swastika was visible on the pitch before a European qualifier in 2015. Henderson is not the captain of England – the armband is worn by Harry Kane – but he is the number two and certainly the most voluble of the England players. It was noticeable how loud Gareth Southgate’s side were in comparison with the almost mute Croatia side, who reached the World Cup final in the summer. Croatia, winners when these countries last met in that famous semi-final in Russia in July, are summed up by the twinkling feet of Luka Modric, who prefers to leads by example rather than words.