Steve McManaman

Steve McManaman

Personal information
Full name	Steven McManaman
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Retired

Steven "Steve" McManaman (born 11 February, 1972, in Liverpool, England) is an English former footballer of the 1990s and early 2000s, who played as a midfielder in a career spanning two of European Football's biggest club football sides in Liverpool F.C. and Real Madrid.

He is the only English player to have won the Champions League title twice in its current format, and is also the first of only two (along with Owen Hargreaves with Bayern Munich) to win it with a foreign club.

Club career

Liverpool

Throughout the 1990s, following the signing professional forms, on the 19th February 1990 8 days after he turned 17, under Kenny Dalglish and having completed Liverpool's YTS (despite being a boyhood Everton fan), McManaman rose through the ranks at Anfield, emerging as arguably the biggest star of a largely unsuccessful era, where the club won only one FA Cup in 1992 under Graeme Souness, and one League Cup in 1995 under Roy Evans.

Macca made his Liverpool bow on the 15th December '90 in the 2-0 league win over Sheffield United at Anfield and scored his first ever professional goal the following season on the 21st August 1991 in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road, McManaman's 75th minute turned out to be just a consolation as team-mate Dean Saunders failed to gain a draw with an 82nd minute penalty miss.

In his first full season as a professional, McManaman partnered both Saunders and Ian Rush during the 1991-92 season, scoring several crucial goals as Liverpool made their way to the 1992 FA Cup Final, in which he created the opening goal for Michael Thomas with a typical mazy dribble at Wembley Stadium. McManaman solidified his reputation in the next few years as one half of the English game's two best young wingers— along with Manchester United's Ryan Giggs. In 1995, McManaman gave a virtuoso performance as he scored both goals in a man of the match display in the 2-1 Coca-Cola League Cup Final victory over Bolton Wanderers.

By 1997, as one of the most exciting prospects in the game, McManaman was linked to many top rival clubs including FC Barcelona and Juventus F.C.. The former even made an official bid of £12.5m. Liverpool accepted citing the risk of McManaman allowing his contract to expire and leaving on a Bosman ruling transfer for nothing, but the deal fell through and the player's excessive wage demands were blamed for the collapse. At this time he was considered one of the top ten midfielders in European Football and had become the playmaker of the Liverpool team, causing some rival Premiership sides to come up with tactics exclusively to curtail his influence, with Middlesbrough coach at the time, Bryan Robson, saying that "everyone in the Premiership knows that if you stop McManaman, you stop Liverpool".

However, what started out as positive affirmation of their talents turned into derogatorily labelling for McManaman and his teammates. A combination of fame and notorious lad culture excesses emerged, and fused with underachievement on the pitch, set critics pouncing. Liverpool were beaten by Alex Ferguson's Man Utd in the 1996 FA Cup Final, in a game where the team arrived to inspect the pitch in cream coloured Armani suits during the Pre-Cup Final reception. McManaman, Jamie Redknapp, David James, Jason McAteer, Stan Collymore and Robbie Fowler were reported to have cashed in on their new found fame, fashionable shaggy hair (Macca's nickname being 'Shaggy'), and good looks as stars of the nascent FA Premier League, exploiting their fame with modelling contracts and deals with fashion labels like Top Man, Hugo Boss and Armani, culminating in their collective nickname: 'The Spice Boys'.

Labels aside, McManaman was also criticised for scoring too few goals, although he did more than make up for it with his incredible rate of assists that included a bountiful supply line for the likes of Robbie Fowler and later, Michael Owen. Moreover, the few goals McManaman did score tended to be spectacular or memorable - most notably an injury time solo dribble past Celtic F.C. in the UEFA Cup, Macca picked the ball up deep inside his own half, headed down the right leaving defenders in his wake, he then started to cut inside and drove towards the Bhoys goal, he then, after a 75 yard run, slotted home with aplomb just inside the Celtic penalty area, a truly outstanding goal.

Although clearly talented, McManaman and the Liverpool team failed to replace their bitter rivals, Man Utd as England's No.1 club of the 1990s. That failure meant inevitable changes at the club, and in November 1998, Liverpool appointed Gérard Houllier as the new manager. McManaman seized the opportunity to "pursue a desire to test himself abroad", after he admitted receiving advice from Paul Gascoigne, Paul Ince and Chris Waddle, who in his words in an interview on ESPN in 2004, "spoke very highly of it". It still baffles many Liverpool fans why the player priced himself out of a move to Barcelona to simply leave on a Bosman two years later. Many saw it as a sign of his arrogance and self belief that he was bigger than the club, as the club had tried hard over the last two years of his contract to persuade him to stay, and some fans felt he had betrayed the club, labelling him a "Judas" character . Twelve months later Gerard Houllier turned down the opportunity to re-sign the player. It is widely accepted amongst Liverpool fans that McManaman's departure was one of the major reasons he was never as widely admired in later years, nor accorded Liverpool legend status, with McManaman becoming a victim of his own foresight.

On 5 September 2006, Steve McManaman was named #22 in Liverpoolfc.tv's "100 Players Who Shook The Kop" list.

Real Madrid

On the 1st July 1999, after 364 appearances and 66 goals for Liverpool, McManaman transferred to Spanish giants Real Madrid (then under coach Guus Hiddink and president Lorenzo Sanz). At Real Madrid, McManaman became only the second English player to ever play for the club, after Laurie Cunningham had played for them in the 1980s. He also became the most high profile English footballer to move to Spanish football since Gary Lineker moved to FC Barcelona from Everton in 1986. Thereafter he proved an instant hit with the fans at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium after scoring three times and creating several goals in his first few games for Los Merengues.

Macca made his debut for Real on the 22nd August '99 in the 2-1 La Liga win over Real Mallorca at the ONO Estadi stadium, Mallorca. He got his first goal for the club a week later on the 29th in the 4-1 thumping of Numancia at the Bernabéu.

McManaman then established himself in the team that went all the way to the Champions League Final in 2000, under new coach Vicente Del Bosque. It was at this European Cup Final at the Stade de France in Paris that McManaman experienced his finest hour as a player- scoring a spectacular volley in a 3-0 victory over fellow Spanish side Valencia, where he was also hailed as the Man of the Match by the English press. His part in Real's eighth European Cup win saw him become the first English player ever to win Europe's premier club competition with a foreign club.

Having established himself as a player of true worth in his first year in Madrid, McManaman overcame initial rejection, where Real Madrid accepted an £11 million pounds offer from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2000, which the player rejected. In spite of ensuing rumours that he had been denied a squad number, according to the English FA's report on McManaman[1], it was reported that McManaman shone in his second season, 2000-01, as his club side challenged for the La Liga title, and won it by a 7 point margin over the previous seasons champions, Deportivo La Coruna.

However, McManaman increasingly saw his playing time reduced each year, as that same year, the club adopted an at the time unstated policy now well known as the Galacticos' system, with worldclass names like Luís Figo and Zinedine Zidane arriving each year and standing above him in the pecking order. At the time though, McManaman was known for his dogged determination to stay positive for the club's cause, even if it meant he had less playing time. It was widely reported in the Spanish media that McManaman's resilience to the team won the respect of his fellow professionals like Raúl, Zidane, Guti, Iván Helguera, and his two best friends at the club, Figo and Ronaldo, who backed him publicly on several occasions in press interviews. McManaman was also twice voted as the Real Madrid supporters' favourite player at the club in his tenure, and according to El País, in 2001, fans saluted him with their 'white handkerchiefs' (as a terrace favourite) after he acrobatically scored against Real Oviedo that year.

Eventually, the Board, including Florentino Pérez relented, declaring that a "man like that would always have a place in my club". Several assists and important goals later, McManaman remained a substitute amid the star studded squad for three seasons, making 151 appearances for Real Madrid in total, not including games in other tournaments, like the FIFA Club World Championship of 2000. However, these substitute appearances did include the last 30 minutes of Real's 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the final of the 2002 Champions League at Hampden Park, Glasgow, he came on as a replacement for Figo - and thereby ensuring his second Champions League winners' medal.

According to certain critics in the Spanish press, McManaman and several other players became "victims" as the policy was based more on marketing and revenue generation, and sometimes meant players were picked not according to form, but because of their marketing potential off the pitch. To his credit, McManaman never spoke ill of the Galactico's policy's effects on him during his tenure, only critiquing the policy and ultimately describing it in his autobiography in 2004 as the "Disneyfication of Real Madrid" upon his departure from the club; a piece of foresight that proved telling for the future- as the club never reached its heights in the period ensuing with the policy, and with the term becoming somewhat pejorative till this day.

However, it was McManaman's fourth season that really raised doubts, after only playing 21 games of which he started only 9 times, and making a meagre 15 appearances in La Liga, questions arose about his ability and reasons for staying in Spain considering his diminished role, lack of first team action and international attention. Suggestions that McManaman had "sold out" for money and had grown indifferent and lackadaiscal to his football were rampant in the British Press.

According to Forbes Magazine in 2000, McManaman was listed as 6th on the list of highest earning footballers in the world. McManaman is believed to have pocketed an estimated 15 million Euros (just under £10,250,000) in his four years in Madrid. On top of financial rewards, McManaman also became arguably the most successful English football export to ever play overseas.

Manchester City

The signing of fellow Englishman David Beckham proved the last straw in eventually forcing McManaman out the pecking order at Real Madrid. In 2003, along with teammates Claude Makélélé, Fernando Hierro and later Fernando Morientes, McManaman headed back to the English FA Premier League. There he joined long-time admirer Kevin Keegan on the 30th August at Manchester City F.C., resulting in a reunion with several ex-colleagues including Robbie Fowler, Nicolas Anelka, David Seaman and later, David James.

He made his debut on the 14th September 2003 in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa at the City of Manchester Stadium. Unfortunately, McManaman's time at City was an unequivocal failure [2]. A combination of a sex scandal, constant injuries and looking under motivated after failing to oust Shaun Wright-Phillips from his preferred right midfield position saw McManaman play for two seasons and only occasionally demonstrating the ability he had shown in his earlier career. This resulted in a torrent of abuse from fans.

International career

In February 1993, McManaman captained the England Under-21 side for the first time against San Marino and he scored the last goal in a convincing 6-0 win. Terry Venables gave Macca his England debut on the 16th November 1994 in an international friendly with Nigeria at Wembley, McManaman came on as a replacement for Newcastle United's Robert Lee. He had to wait a further 5 years before he scored his first international goal, it came when he scored twice on the 4th September 1999 in the 6-0 Euro 2000 qualifier victory over Luxembourg, again, at Wembley.

For England McManaman will forever remain an enigma at international level, where England coaches, with the exception of Venables, utilised McManaman's talents sparingly. McManaman struggled to repeat fine club form with his country, drawing comparisons to his mentor at Liverpool, John Barnes, but managed to string a series of splendid match winning performances for his country in Euro 96, earning praise from even Pelé, who according to the BBC, touted him as the tournament's best player. Together with team mates David Seaman and Alan Shearer, McManaman was also listed in the official team of the tournament.

However, McManaman made only one appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup under Glenn Hoddle and once more in Euro 2000 under Kevin Keegan, where he scored the last of his three goals for England in that one game against Portugal. The last of his caps came in 2001 where Sven-Göran Eriksson utilised him for his first games for the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, but apparently left a message on McManaman's answering machine to inform him that he was not going to be in the final 2002 FIFA World Cup England squad, despite the pleas of Zidane and Fernando Hierro for McManaman's case; an omission McManaman claimed he never understood. McManaman was capped 37 times for England.

Retirement & Current

McManaman retired from his playing career after being released by Manchester City, on 20 May, 2005. McManaman has personally reported that he has been working on Goal! 2, the sequel to Goal!, a movie which stars Kuno Becker becoming a fictional superstar at Newcastle United. McManaman wrote the following in the Daily Telegraph in February 2006: "The second part follows his move to Real Madrid, filmed with my former team-mates at the Bernabeu. I'm helping to choreograph the training-ground action shots, check for authenticity in the dressing-room, and so on. The director (Jaume Collet-Serra) gave me a cameo role. I was told to do lots of manic high-fives..." As of 2007, McManaman has also become an Associate Producer of the film.

McManaman has since also been active as a media commentator and pundit, and has provided analysis for ITV media for the 2005 Champions League Final, and for ESPN Star in Asia in 2006, where McManaman's experience both as a former Premiership star as well as in Spain have enabled him to analyse the game in Europe in depth. In an interview with ESPN in 2004 he also expressed interest in being a club manager and claimed to be obtaining his coaching badges. In October 2006 McManaman played in a charity match for Liverpool Legends against Celtic Legends.

In December 2006, the South China Morning Post reported that McManaman would begin playing again, signing for the Hong Kong side Hong Kong Rangers. Although initially confirmed at a press conference held by the club, McManaman later announced that a knee injury had scuppered his move before the deadline, and that he would unlikely make any return in a professional capacity in future. “I played a couple of months ago for the old Liverpool team (against Celtic). That’s something I really enjoyed. Certainly, I will play more games but not in a professional capacity like these young boys. Whether I can play is another thing because you need to do some serious training. It’s nice to be a fan rather than a player. Life has been very good for me. Football has been very good to me. Football has consumed my life since I was 17 . Every day you think about football and every day you prepare for the next game. It’s nice to step back and travel and see lots of people. I can see more of my family and spend more time with my wife and young child,” he said.

In early July 2007, he has been named executive director of the Hong Kong-listed company, Carson Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings Ltd, was recently cleared to buy into Premier League side Birmingham City. McManaman has also joined Setanta Sports as a football analyst and will host Macca's Monday Night, reflecting on life in the Barclays Premier League. The team is augmented by Neil Warnock, the former Sheffield United manager, James Richardson, best known for his coverage of Italian football, Emmanuel Petit, Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand.

Personal life

McManaman married his long time girlfriend Victoria Edwards, a Barrister/Law lecturer, on Saturday 6 June 2002, in Mallorca's Palma Cathedral. Victoria gave birth to their daughter Ella.

Honours

Club	Start	End	Total Apps	Total Goals	Total Assists	Lge Apps (Sub) Goals/Assts	Cup Comps (Sub) Goals/Assts	European (Sub) Goals/Assts
Liverpool	1989	1999	364	66	134	267 (5) 46/104	57 (5) 15/20	24 (6) 5/10
Real Madrid	1999	2003	101	14	33	59 (34) 8/20	11 (4) 1/2	30 (13) 3/3
Manchester City	2003	2005	44	0	7	25 (10) 0/7	4 (2) 0/0	1 (2) 0/0

With Liverpool (1989 - 1999):

• FA Cup Winner: 1992
• English League Cup Winner: 1995 (also winning the Alan Hardaker Trophy for man of the match)
• FA Cup Runners Up: 1996

With Real Madrid (1999 - 2003):

• UEFA Champions League Winner: 1999/2000, 2001/2002
• Spanish League - La Liga Champions: 2000/2001, 2002/2003
• UEFA Super Cup Winner: 2002
• Spanish Cup Copa Del Rey Runners Up: 2001

With the England national team:

• FIFA World Cup
  • Appearances: 1998
• European Championship
  • Appearances: 1996, 2000

Total Caps/Goals: 37/3

External links

• Official Liverpool FC profile
• Profile at LFC History.net
• Steve McManaman at Soccerbase
• Steve McManaman index at Sporting-heroes.net