Footballer, born in Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. A midfielder, he served an apprenticeship at Liverpool, then joined the club (198999), before moving to Real Madrid. He joined Manchester City in 2003, retiring from football in 2005. His achievements include FA Cup winner (1992) and League winner (1995) with Liverpool, and twice winner of the UEFA Champions League (2000, 2002) at Real Madrid. He was England team member of the FIFA 1998 World Cup and the European Championship (1996, 2000), and gained 37 caps.
| Steve McManaman | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Steven McManaman | |
| Date of birth | 11 February 1972 | |
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 ins (1.83m) | |
| Nickname | Macca, Shaggy | |
| Position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Retired | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
|
1989-1999 1999-2003 2003-2005 |
Liverpool Real Madrid Manchester City |
364 (66) 152 (16) 44 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1994-2001 | England | 37 (3) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Steven McManaman (born 11 February 1972, in Liverpool, England) is a famous English former footballer of the 1990s and early 2000s who played as a midfielder in a career that spanned two of European football's biggest club sides in Liverpool F.C.
Club career
Liverpool
Throughout the 1990s, following his signing professional forms 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 out of a largely unsuccessful era, where the club seemed to fall into transition and won only an FA Cup in 1992 under Graeme Souness, and a League Cup in 1995 under Roy Evans.
McManaman thrust himself as an asset to the club from early on, forming a prolific partnership with both Dean Saunders and Liverpool legend Ian Rush during the 1991-92 season. 12 months later Gerard Houllier turned down the opportunity to re-sign the player stating "the club did not need that type of player"
On 5th September 2006, Steve McManaman was named #22 in Liverpoolfc.tv's "100 Players Which Shook The Kop" list, with McManaman also still holding on to the club's record for most goal assists in its history so far.
Real Madrid
In 1999, McManaman made the decade's most highly publicised Bosman transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid (then under Guus Hiddink and Lorenzo Sanz). At Real Madrid, McManaman became only the second English player to ever play for the club, after Laurie Cunningham in the 1980s, He also became the most high profile English footballer to move to Spanish football since Gary Lineker moved to Barcelona.
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.
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 Middlesborough in the summer of 2000 that 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 huge margin.
However, McManaman increasingly saw his playing time reduced each year, a victim of the club's 'galacticos' policy - which sometimes meant players were picked not according to form, but because of their marketing potential off the pitch.
McManaman though, showed his resilience to the team and won the respect of his fellow professionals like Zidane, Raúl González, Guti, Iván Helguera, and his two best friends at the club, Luís Figo and Ronaldo, who backed him publicly alongside the Real Madrid supporters who, according to El País, in 2001, saluted him with their 'white handkerchiefs' (as a terrace favourite) after he acrobatically scored against Real Oviedo. Several assists and important goals later, McManaman remained a substitute amid the star studded squad for three seasons, making 152 appearances for Real Madrid in total, not including games in other tournaments, like the FIFA Club World Championship of 2000.
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.
Manchester City
The signing of fellow Englishman David Beckham proved the last straw in eventually forcing McManaman out the pecking order at Real Madrid.
During his time with the club McManaman was regularly seen in late night bars in both Manchester and his native Liverpool in the build up to games.
Retirement
McManaman is currently retired from his playing career after being released by Manchester City F.C., on 20 May 2005.
McManaman has since also been active as a media commentator and pundit, and has provided analyses 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.
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. For England, McManaman will forever remain an enigma at international level, where England coaches with the exception of Terry Venables, utilised McManaman's talents sparingly.
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;
Career
| Club | Start | End | Matches | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 1989 | 1999 | 364 | 66 | 134 |
| Real Madrid | 1999 | 2003 | 152 | 16 | 29 |
| Manchester City | 2003 | 2005 | 44 | 0 | 7 |
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: 1996With Real Madrid (1999 - 2003):
UEFA Champions League Winner: 1999/2000, 2001/2002 Spanish League - La Liga Champions: 2000/2001, 2002/2003 Intercontinental Cup: 2002 UEFA Super Cup Winner: 2002 Spanish Super Cup Winner: 2001 Intercontinental Cup Runners Up: 2000 UEFA Super Cup Runners Up: 2000 Spanish Cup Copa Del Rey Runners Up: 2001With the England national team:
FIFA World Cup Appearances: 1998 European Championship Appearances: 1996, 2000 UEFA European Championship Tournament MVP: 1996Total Caps/Goals: 37/3
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