Steve McManaman

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Steve McManaman
Steve McManaman 2009.jpg
Steve McManaman, 2009
Personnel
Surname Steven Charles McManaman
birthday February 11, 1972
place of birth BootleEngland
size 183 cm
position Left / offensive midfield
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1989-1999 Liverpool FC 274 (46)
1999-2003 real Madrid 94 0(8)
2003-2005 Manchester City 35 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1991-1993 England U-21 7 0(1)
1994-2001 England 37 0(3)
1 Only league games are given.

Steven "Steve" Charles McManaman (born February 11, 1972 in Bootle , Merseyside , England ) is a former English football player of the 1990s and early 2000s. He was active as a midfielder with the top European clubs Liverpool and Real Madrid . He is one of the UK's most successful players in terms of number of overseas title wins.

Career

Liverpool

After McManaman had previously worked in the youth departments of Liverpool FC, he was appointed to the professional team by the then coach Kenny Dalglish . In the 1990s he was the best player on Anfield Road according to experts in a time that was not very successful for Liverpool and won the FA Cup in 1992 under Graeme Souness and the League Cup in 1995 under Roy Evans . In his first season as a professional 1991/92 he formed a successful axis with Dean Saunders and the legend Ian Rush and was partly responsible for winning the cup in 1992 due to his goals. In the final at Wembley Stadium he prepared the decisive goal for Michael Thomas in front. McManaman was able to further stabilize his performance in the future and was regarded as the best young winger in English football alongside Ryan Giggs . In the final of the League Cup, he scored the two goals of the game and was named Man of the Match (best player performance in the final).

By 1997, McManaman reached its peak and was associated with numerous top European clubs, such as FC Barcelona and Juventus Turin . The move to Barcelona for a transfer fee of 12.5 million pounds was then already reported as perfect by the Liverpool club management, but then failed at the last minute. Liverpool FC has been heavily criticized for its position as a "club ready to sell". However, it was not exceptional at a time when McManaman was probably one of the ten best midfielders in European football and could have made a free transfer after the Bosman decision after his contract expired. At the same time, an article by Stephen Thanabalan was published in the Far Eastern Economic Review , which originally shed light on McManaman and his teammates. The sudden fame, combined with its downside, as well as the lack of success at this time led to a significant increase in criticism. During the reception leading up to the FA Cup final against Manchester United , which Liverpool lost to Alex Ferguson's side , the team appeared in cream Armani suits. McManaman, Jamie Redknapp , David James , Jason McAteer and Stan Collymore gave the public the impression of showing off their new celebrity as stars of the Premier League and exploiting them with model contracts such as Top Man , Hugo Boss and Armani earned the collective nickname The Spice Boys . In addition, McManaman was criticized for his low goal yield, although he compensated for this with an above-average rate of goal preparation, from which Robbie Fowler and later Michael Owen benefited in particular . McManaman also scored a number of significant goals, with his goal in extra time in the UEFA Cup against Celtic Glasgow , after a dribble and past a large part of the opposing team, was noteworthy.

Despite the great talent of McManaman and the Liverpool team, they could not dispute rival Manchester United for the status of the best English team in the 1990s. This led to a large number of changes in the club and Gérard Houllier was signed as the new coach. McManaman then decided to seek his future at a club outside of England after speaking to Paul Gascoigne , Paul Ince and Chris Waddle , who advised him to take the move (according to himself in an interview for ESPN in 2004).

In all competitions McManaman was in 364 competitive games for Liverpool on the field, with a total of 44 goals for the "Reds".

real Madrid

In 1999 he moved after a controversial Bosman transfer to the Spanish top club Real Madrid , which was coached by John Toshack at the time. McManaman was only the second English player to play for Real Madrid after Laurie Cunningham in the 1980s. He was the most famous English player after Gary Lineker's move to FC Barcelona, ​​who played in the Spanish Primera División . He quickly found his way around Madrid and was nicknamed El Macca by Los Merengues after three goals and further set-up at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium at home . McManaman was part of the team that reached the Champions League final under Vicente del Bosque in 2000 . In this final at the Stade de France in Paris , McManaman was able to convince with an exceptionally good performance. After his remarkable direct shot in the 3-0 victory, he was voted Man of the Match . Real's eighth title win in total was synonymous with the first Champions League title of an English player for a foreign club. After his good first season in Madrid, McManaman was able to confirm his performance in the 2000/01 season and won the Spanish championship by a large margin on the runner-up.

Nevertheless, his working hours became more and more sparse as the competition for the individual positions intensified. The signing of other top players such as Luis Figo in 2000, Zinédine Zidane in 2001 and Ronaldo in 2002 underscored the club's new policy of signing the world's best players, which earned Real Madrid the nickname The Galactic . McManaman described this development in his later autobiography as the "Disneyfication of Real Madrid". McManaman demonstrated stamina during this time and always received support and public recognition from his team-mates Zidane, Raúl , Guti and Iván Helguera . The club management, including Florentino Pérez , said that “a man like him always has a place in the club”. After further goal preparation and important goals, McManaman was able to maintain his place in the midst of a star-studded team and had a total of 152 games in three years. His fourth season, however, was to be a turning point and McManaman was used in only 21 games, including only 15 in the Spanish league, with only 9 games from the start. The question of his future in Spain was becoming more and more urgent due to his steadily deteriorating situation due to the few appearances and the lack of international match practice.

According to Forbes magazine in 2000, McManaman was ranked sixth in the world's highest paid soccer player category. It is estimated that McManaman earned € 15m in his four years at Real Madrid.

The midfielder played 157 competitive games for Los Blancos, scoring 14 goals for his team. The titles he achieved during this time make him the most successful English "football export" that has played abroad to this day.

Manchester City

The signing of compatriot David Beckham was another indication that McManaman was no longer needed in the Real Madrid team. In 2003 he left, like his teammates Claude Makélélé , Fernando Hierro and later Fernando Morientes , the club for the English Premier League, where he joined Manchester City , who was coached by Kevin Keegan at the time, who himself is always one was a big fan of McManaman. In Manchester he met numerous former teammates again, such as Robbie Fowler , Nicolas Anelka , David Seaman and later David James. McManaman's time in Manchester, however, turned out to be a major disappointment. He completed two seasons and was plagued by injuries. In addition, a sex scandal in the media and the constant accusation that he showed only moderate commitment and that his prime was behind him led to the fact that he was released from the club.

In the last two years in professional football, McManaman wore the Citizens jersey 44 times (league, cup, international cup competition) without scoring a goal. On May 20, 2005, he ended his playing career.

National team

McManaman was the first captain of England's U-21 national team in February 1993 in the game against San Marino and scored the last goal in the 6-0 win. His abilities should never be fully exploited in the English national team , as the national coaches with the exception of Terry Venables and Kevin Keegan made only sparse use of McManaman's talent. McManaman always had difficulty confirming his good performances at the club for England and was similar in this discrepancy to the former player John Barnes , who had also played in the same role at Liverpool FC. During the European Championship in 1996 in his own country, he played a good tournament and, according to the BBC, was even named the best player of the championship by Pelé . He was elected to the team of the tournament along with David Seaman and Alan Shearer and received the official title of best tournament game as MVP .

Under coach Glenn Hoddle , he was used in only one game at the 1998 World Cup in France and at the 2000 European Championship in the Netherlands and Belgium under Kevin Keegan. In the group game at the European Championship against Portugal , he scored his last of a total of three goals. He played his last international match in 2001 under Sven-Göran Eriksson , who tested him in the run-up to the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea . Eriksson then informed McManaman by message on the answering machine that he would not be considered for the squad for the World Cup, which caused incomprehension at McManaman. Public appeals from players like Zidane and Hierro should not change this decision and McManaman's international career was over after 37 appearances.

TV expert

McManaman has since worked as a commentator and expert for various English media. He analyzed the final of the Champions League in 2005 for the British television station ITV . He is currently responsible for both the British and American ESPN as a commentator and specialist for the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the American MLS.

successes

society

  • Champions League winner: 2000, 2002
  • World Cup Winner: 2002
  • European Supercup winner: 2002
  • Spanish champion: 2001, 2003
  • Spanish Super Cup winner: 2001
  • FA Cup winner: 1992
  • English League Cup Winner: 1995

Individually

  • Appointment to the "PFA Team of the Year" : 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998

Web links