Past Players: Volume 7 - Steve McManaman

When Roy Evans took the managerial hotspot in 1994, he was determined to get the focus back on McManaman and try to support him anyway he could, it was Evans’ decision to field the winger in a less constricted position and this seemed to appeal to Steve. McManaman topped off his magical season of mazy runs with a League Cup win.

The 1995 final against Bolton saw Mcmanaman score both goals, one in the first half and one in the second. Bolton found a consolation goal but the Reds picked up the trophy with McManaman collecting another man of the match award for a final. This clash is often nicknamed “The McManaman Final” and I distinctly remember my brother referring to it as that when I got older, I was only 6 for this final!

McManaman only grew stronger in his new free role under Roy Evans and that is when the world really sat up an notice what a star he really was. Several big names jumped to praise Steve in his time at Liverpool. Ian Rush once described McManaman as “the most promising young player at Liverpool” and Kevin Keegan once said “there are few finer sights in world football than the sight of Steve McManaman running down the length of the pitch.”

McManaman had proved that he was one of the best midfielders around. He could switch from wing to wing with ease and also proved very useful sitting behind the forwards. He was always a very passionate player and strived to get his side going when the gods were against them.

It was no secret that McManaman had become such a force in a Red shirt that the opposition would now almost always deploy somebody to mark him throughout the 90 minutes, Bryan Robson once said “If you stop McManaman, you stop Liverpool.” the thing was though, you couldn’t stop him.

The next big final for McManaman and Liverpool was the 1996 FA Cup final. Unfortunately it wasn’t a man of the match award that encouraged people to remember McManaman for this final, it was that horrid white suit.

The Spice Boys as they were dubbed turned up to this final all in white, this came at a time when the likes of McManaman and his partner in crime Robbie Fowler were being criticised for their flamboyant lifestyles outside of football. Some may say they were just doing what any normal lads their age would do, others would describe it as being very disruptive to the team as a whole, either way the press were loving all of the commotion at Liverpool.

In the 1997/1998 season McManaman scored 12 times. His most remembered goal was against Celtic in another UEFA Cup run for Liverpool. It’s not brilliant quality but the video below really gives you a sense of how good McManaman was.

In the summer of 1997 Liverpool were facing the prospect of losing McManaman despite Steve himself saying he was quite happy where he was to begin with. Barcelona came in with a bid but that ended in disaster when nobody met McManaman in Spain and Barca appeared to have snubbed him for Rivaldo.

An offer from Juventus later in the year was then rejected by Liverpool. 1998 saw McManaman named as captain but with facts emerging that Liverpool were unable to match the sort of wages McManaman would get if he left on a free, debates began to ignite. Some people agreed that McManaman deserved to play in the best sides in the world and at this point Liverpool weren’t playing to their best. Others took the opinion that he was just being greedy either way eventually Steve admitted he wanted to play abroad.

Real Madrid

Steve McManaman at Real Madrid

In January 1999, Steve McManaman passed his medical for Real Madrid. He became the highest paid English footballer at that point but did not pose in a Real shirt as most signings do, saying that he didn’t want to out of respect for his former club. This of course was a “pre-contract” and McManaman still had months left at Anfield under Houllier.

The last few months at Liverpool weren’t brilliant for McManaman, he was out of favour now really as Houllier began to strengthen his team, making sure they could cope without the departing McManaman. The result meant that Steve came on as a sub quite often, he also suffered some injuries and had to deal with some sections of the Liverpool fan base calling him a traitor.

In fairness, McManaman took his criticisms on the chin. Despite all the ups and downs McManaman notched up an assist in his last game for the club and at the final whistle he did receive a standing ovation. Real Madrid being the money splashers that they are weren’t as interested in Steve McManaman originally as everybody thought; he soon changed their opinions though. McManaman made his debut for Madrid in August 1999, against Mallorca. He scored his first goal in Real Madrid’s next fixture against Numancia.Despite a promising start the FIFA Club World Championships, it saw a stain created on McManaman’s Spanish career as he missed a chance to score the winner and then missed a penalty that would have given Madrid 3rd place. It may have been a new competition but fans don’t forget that sort of thing.