Manager Milivojevic? Palace captain reflects on his Eagles highlights and possible next steps

BY ANDREW McSTEEN

Luka Milivojevic has been confirmed as the third most effective penalty taker in Premier League history, after Southampton’s Matthew Le Tissier and Arsenal’s Thierry Henry.

His 91.3 per cent conversion rate – or 21 out of 23 – is close to the Gunners legend, but four per cent behind Le TissIer, who scored from all but one of his 26 spot-kicks.

The 29-year-old’s importance to Palace is likely to be confirmed in the nine games of the campaign which remain.

But during lockdown he spoke about his possible next steps after playing.

Speaking to the Eagles fans in a question and answer session on Instagram on his 29th birthday, in April, he admitted thoughts of taking the hotseat had entered his head.

“That is something that is in my head, but at the moment I don’t see myself doing it, maybe in the future,” said the Serbian international about any managerial plans. “But you never know how you’re going to react when you stop playing football. Maybe you need to rest, or want to spend more time with your family?

“But you have spent all your life in football and maybe one, two years after stopping playing you will start missing football and want to come back; maybe that will be in the future, but at the moment it’s not something I have decided yet.”

After joining the SE25 club on deadline day in the 2017 January transfer window under then boss Sam Allardyce, the Serbian international has now racked up more than 100 appearances for the club and took time to reflect on the progress the club has made this season, which sees them in 11th place on 39 points.

“For me it’s a good season, my third (full) season in a row,” said former Red Star Belgrade player.

“This season has been totally different than the first and second seasons as I scored 10 goals in the first and 12 in the second and this season, I scored just two.

“So, if you see just this you will say this season is very bad, but I did well from the beginning and always try to do my best. But, most important in the end is the team and as a collective group we have had an amazing season, where we are in a very good position with a lot of points. We have nine games in front of us where we can take a lot of points and finish up the table because, at the moment, we are doing very well.

“Everyone thought that with VAR this season I would have 20-30 penalties, but when you see how they use VAR in this country it is totally different to the other leagues if you compare it,” he added.

“In England, most of the time they follow the decision of the referee on the pitch, they never go to screen, which is good, because when you start to go to the screen, go back, change decision or keep same decisions you’re going to lose a lot of time, that’s the reason why they didn’t give us a lot.”

Milivojevic went on to admit that Eden Hazard has been the toughest opponent he has faced in the Premier League, while Stamford Bridge was his favourite other stadium, closely followed by Old Trafford, but he also took time to reflect on his favourite moments in the red and blue since moving from Olympiakos in Greece.

“We have a lot of good moments and it’s tough to say one,” said the Palace penalty taker. “The one which is most fresh in my mind was our 1-0 home win against Bournemouth this season with 10 men.

“It was a great moment for everyone in the stadium; the atmosphere and support were amazing, and to win with 10 men in this league is not easy.

“But there are a lot of moments (with Palace); wins against Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, against Hull to stay in the league, Stoke away. I have had a lot of good moments already.

“My most nervous penalty was the second penalty at home against Arsenal in the 2-2 draw (in October 2018),” he added. “That was a penalty with a lot of pressure, both the first and second ones.

“The first was because I had one saved against Everton in the loss the week before, so the second one against Arsenal was where you should put it in to get some points for the team, plus my penalty against Norwich at home earlier this season was good.”