Past Players: Volume 7 - Steve McManaman

Manchester City

Steve McManaman at Manchester City

In Augsut 2003, Steve McManaman signed for Manchester City. Teaming up with the familiar face like Kevin Keegan and playing alongside the likes of Robbie Fowler and Nicolas Anelka, it looked as though Steve would settle right in. His debut came against Aston Villa on the 14th September in a match that saw City win 4-1. Unfortunately McManaman’s time at Manchester City was a forgettable one. He never managed to live up to the expectations or find his old form and frustrated fans began to get very annoyed at the player. He dropped down the pecking order very quickly and when Stuart Pearce became manager in 2005 McManaman was allowed to leave on a free.

McManaman made 35 appearances for City without scoring once.EnglandMcManaman played 37 times for England and scored on 3 occasions. He made his debut for England in November 1994, under manager Terry Venables. McManaman, like many big club performers, never really managed to replicate his club form for his country. He impressed in Euro 96 and even drew compliments from Pele. McManaman was also named in the team of the tournament.When Glen Hoddle took over as England boss, he gave McManaman only 4 appearances. Despite some brilliant club form, Steve could not seem to convince Hoddle that he deserved a place and he only appeared once in the 1998 World Cup as a sub. Things got better for McManaman when Kevin Keegan got the England job, in Euro 2000. McManaman found his first goal in his international career scoring twice against Luxembourg in a qualifier. McManaman also scored against Portugal in Euro 2000 but injured himself shortly afterwards and had to be replaced.

Under Sven Goran Eriksson, McManaman made some appearances in World Cup qualifiers but was then cruelly informed that he would not be in the squad. It was a frustrating time for McManaman in his international career and despite backing from Real Madrid teammates such as Zidane and stats such as an 84% pass completion rate 15% more than any other midfield option at the time, he just couldn’t get in the side and in my opinion this was very much to England’s detriment.In late 2001, McManaman played his final games for England coming on as a substitute in the match against Germany that ended 5-1 then featuring against Albania and finally featuring as a sub in the qualifier against Greece in 2001.

Life after Football

After his 15 year career in football, McManaman moved into media. He featured in the film Goal II in 2007 and was an associate producer. Steve has worked for a stack of TV channels including ITV, ESPN and Setanta. McManaman is also an ambassador for UEFA. You can also find him playing in a lot of charity football games and in 2009 he stated intentions of completing his coaching badges however it is unclear whether he ever followed through on this idea.Final ThoughtWhether you think McManaman to be just a money grabber, doing whatever he could to live the dream or whether you admire his determination to prove people wrong, one thing you can never disagree on is his immense talent. I often find that many neutral fans have no idea how good McManaman was and often I find this is down to the fact he never really featured for England. It’s a shame that a poor international career can have such an effect on one of England’s best ever players in my opinion. Maybe I am bias but McManaman was effortless and magical to watch. What I would give for the current Liverpool side to have such an effective and versatile winger, somebody with confidence who would give his all to the side.

Honours

Liverpool

FA Cup – 91/92

League Cup – 94/95

Real Madrid

La Liga – 00/01, 02/03

Supercopa – 01, 03

Champions League – 99/00, 01/02

UEFA Super Cup – 02

Intercontinental Cup – 02

Individual

PFA Team Of The Year – 96/97

Euro Team Of The Tournament – 96

Premier League Player Of The Month – December 97

Champions League Final Man Of The Match – 00