Steve McManaman
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| Steve McManaman | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steven McManaman | |
| Date of birth | 11 February 1972 | |
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |
| Playing position | Winger (retired) | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1988–1989 | Liverpool | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1989–1999 1999–2003 2003–2005 |
Liverpool Real Madrid Manchester City |
274 (46) 94 (8) 35 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1991–1993 1994–2001 |
England U21 England |
7 (1) 37 (3) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Steven "Steve" McManaman (born 11 February 1972, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England) is an English former footballer of the 1990s and early 2000s, who played as a winger[1] in a career spanning two of European football's most successful club sides in Liverpool F.C. and Real Madrid.
He was the first British player to win the UEFA Champions League title twice, and is the first of only two English footballers (along with Owen Hargreaves with Bayern Munich) to win the Champions League with a non-English club.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Liverpool
McManaman grew up as an Everton supporter,[citation needed] but signed for Liverpool as an apprentice on leaving school in 1988.[citation needed] He signed as a professional on 19 February 1990 in what was to be Kenny Dalglish's final season as manager, eight days after his 18th birthday.[citation needed]
McManaman made his Liverpool debut as a substitute in the Football League First Division on 15 December 1990 in the 2-0 league win over Sheffield United at Anfield[citation needed] and scored his first ever professional goal with a diving header the following season on 21 August 1991 in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road.
Under new coach Graeme Souness, McManaman created and scored several crucial goals in the run up of the FA Cup, and his performances in his first season established him as a regular first team player who eventually collected a winner's medal in the 1992 FA Cup final as Liverpool triumphed 2-0 against Sunderland,[citation needed] and also featured in their run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.[citation needed] McManaman had a couple of quieter seasons with the advent of the FA Premier League, but continued to develop in reputation as one half of English Football's two wing wizards, alongside Ryan Giggs of Manchester United. In 1993-94, McManaman continued fine form with two goals against Swindon Town and some assists including a spectacular run and assist against Tottenham Hotspur, but failed to continue with the form after an incident with Bruce Grobbelaar towards the end of a Merseyside derby, where the players exchanged blows after Grobelaar lambasted McManaman for a poor clearance which led to a goal being conceded.
In 1994-95, McManaman got offered a million pound contract, was given a central, free role by new coach Roy Evans and went on to collect a League Cup winner's medal after scoring twice in his side's 2-1 win over Bolton in the Wembley final as man of the match. By the end of 1995-96, McManaman was the top goal assists maker in the FA Premier League with 25 assists a season, including assists and man of the match awards in a 4–3 victory over Newcastle United, a match voted the best of the decade in a Premier League poll known as the Ten Seasons Awards. McManaman was now ranked as one of the finest midfielders in English football, having also carved a significant reputation in the burgeoning European stage following Euro 96. Around this time, the (then) Middlesbrough manager, Bryan Robson, said at the time 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. The labelling began after Liverpool were beaten by Alex Ferguson's Manchester United 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 (McManaman'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, where McManaman scored against the Bhoys after a 75 yard dribble. Other outstanding goals of his career came with goals against Aston Villa, Newcastle United F.C. and the scoring the winner with a stunning volley against champions in 1997/98, Arsenal F.C., where after which he won a PFA Player of the Month award in December 1997.
By the 1997-98 season, McManaman had bids from Juventus and A.C. Milan but Liverpool actually accepted a lucrative offer of 12.5 million pounds at the time from FC Barcelona for his services, 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.
In his final games at Anfield for the club in 1998-99, McManaman scored several important goals including the winning goal from outside the area with a superb half volley to complete the full turn around result against Tottenham Hotspur F.C., after trailing 2-0 down at half time. In fitting fashion, in what was the final match of the season, and McManaman's final match and final contribution on the pitch for the club, McManaman assisted Karl-Heinz Riedle with a goal at the Kop with a trademark right wing run and pull back as Liverpool won 3-0 against Wimbledon F.C..
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 only to simply leave on a Bosman for Real Madrid two years later. Although McManaman claims the club tried to sell him and he ended up not even having any contract negotiations in Barcelona as he was used by Barcelona as decoy bait to get Rivaldo to sign, many fans still saw it as a sign of his arrogance and self belief that he was bigger than the club, and note that the club had tried hard over the last two years of his contract to persuade him to stay, with McManaman always claiming he would sign a new contract as well. Some fans felt he had betrayed the club by these actions, 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.
McManaman was named in the PFA Team of the Year for four consecutive seasons from from 1994-95 to 1997-98, once held the record for most consecutive Premier League appearances as an ever present for four seasons, and once held the record for highest number of Premier League assists per games ratio with 104 assists in 274 appearances. McManaman still holds the record for having the most number of assists in Liverpool history, of which Steven Gerrard is close to breaking. On 5 September 2006, Steve McManaman was named #22 in the official Liverpool website's "100 Players Who Shook The Kop" list.[3]
[edit] Real Madrid
On 1 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).[4] 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.
McManaman made his debut for Madrid on the 22 August 1999 in the 2-1 La Liga win over Real Mallorca at the Son Moix stadium, Mallorca, where he assisted Fernando Morientes in scoring the injury time winner. He scored his first goal for the club a week later on the 29 August 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, who replaced John Toshack. 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 Madrid'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, 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 Coruña.[5]
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 Galáctico 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 a 'wonder goal' 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". Arguably his second greatest moment in the white of Madrid came in the 2002 UEFA Champions League semi-final against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on 23 April 2002. In this match of monumental proportions, due to "El Classico" being a massive game in its own right, but also the fact that it was a Champions League Semi-final, McManaman appeared as a second half substitute to score a critical goal in second half injury time to secure a 2-0 first-leg advantage, cooly chipping over goalkeeper Roberto Bonano after being played in by Zindedine Zidane, who had scored the first goal on 55 minutes. This victory helped secure their place in the final of the 2002 Champions League at Hampden Park, Glasgow, where he came on as a replacement for Figo - and thereby ensuring his second Champions League winners' medal, after Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over German team Bayer Leverkusen.
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 Galáctico 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 lackadaisical 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.
[edit] 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.[6]
He made his debut on 14 September 2003 in the 4-1 win over Aston Villa at the City of Manchester Stadium. Unfortunately, McManaman's time at City was a disappointment.[7] A combination of niggling injuries, a sex scandal with Fowler that unfolded in the News of the World, and the rise of an in form and up and coming Shaun Wright-Phillips saw him lose his preferred right midfield position. When McManaman did play, he failed to find old form and speed, only occasionally demonstrated the ability he had shown in his earlier career, and changed his game play considerably to being a simple passer of the ball in central midfield. He was left to often play mere token central leadership roles to the new batch of young talent, a role which McManaman was arguably unable to excel in, and saw him get a torrent of abuse from fans for being "all talk and not enough action", although, youngsters Wright-Phillips and Lee Croft did say McManaman was a major motivating influence on them. Nonetheless, McManaman played for only two seasons and never played another game for the club after Kevin Keegan resigned in March 2005. Keegan's replacement, Stuart Pearce, released McManaman on a free transfer on 20 May 2005.
[edit] 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 McManaman 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 FIFA 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.
[edit] Retirement and current
McManaman retired from his playing career after being released by Manchester City in 2005.[8] 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, McManaman was named executive director of the Hong Kong-listed company, Carson Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings Ltd, which subsequently took a 29.9% stake in English Championship 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.
[edit] Personal life
In association with Robbie Fowler, McManaman has invested in several racehorses through a company named The Macca and Growler Partnership, which featured in the Grand National in Aintree, most notably 2003 Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Celebration Chase winner Seebald.[9]
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. Despite being a Liverpool FC player for ten years he has brought up his daughter Ella as an Evertonian and maintains that his favourite football stadium is Goodison Park.
[edit] Honours
| Country | Club | Season | Domestic League | Domestic Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | |||
 |
Liverpool | 1989–99 | 274 | 46 | 104 | 60 | 14 | 20 | 30 | 6 | 10 | 364 | 66 | 134 |
 |
Real Madrid | 1999–03 | 94 | 8 | 20 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 5 | 11 | 152 | 14 | 33 |
|
Manchester City | 2003–05 | 35 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 7 |
| Career Totals | 403 | 54 | 131 | 81 | 15 | 22 | 63 | 11 | 21 | 560 | 80 | 174 | ||
With Liverpool (1989 - 1999):
- English football champions winner: 1989-90
- FA Cup winner: 1989 and 1992
- League Cup winner: 1995 (also winning the Alan Hardaker Trophy for man of the match)
- FA Community Shield winner: 1989 and 1990
- FA Cup runners up: 1996
With Real Madrid (1999 - 2003):
- UEFA Champions League winner: 1999/2000, 2001/2002
- La Liga winner: 2000/2001, 2002/2003
- UEFA Super Cup winner: 2002
- Supercopa de Espana winner: 2001 and 2003
- Intercontinental Cup winner: 2002
- Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu winner: 1999, 200 and 2003
- 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
[edit] Further reading
- McManaman, Steve & Edworthy, Sarah (2003). El Macca: Four Years with Real Madrid. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-743-48920-9.
[edit] References
- ^ Steve McManaman Liverpool Profile. Liverpool.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ Owen Hargreaves Profile. The Global Football Database. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ 100 Players who Shook the Kop - Definitive List. liverpool.tv (2006-10-06). Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ McManaman's Spanish jackpot. BBC Sport. BBC (1999-01-30). Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ Wright, James (2003-07-14). Englishmen Abroad: Steve McManaman. The Football Association. Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ McManaman joins Man City. BBC Sport. BBC (2003-08-30). Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ Spice Boy grows up. The Guardian (2004-09-21). Retrieved on 2008-03-07.
- ^ Manchester City let McManaman go. BBC Sport. BBC (2005-05-20).
- ^ People in racing: Celebrities. British Horse Racing. Retrieved on August 23, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Official Liverpool FC profile
- Profile at LFC History.net
- Steve McManaman career stats at Soccerbase
- Steve McManaman index at Sporting-heroes.net
- Macca: The Steve McManaman Story: Unofficial fansite
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