He was the One player Sir Alex Ferguson Feared

he was the only opposing player Sir Alex Ferguson ever paid attention to in the Premier League I mean he would mention Alan sheerer and other major opposing players in team talks but never with any fear however this guy always had him in a sweat these are the words of legendary man united goalkeeper Peter schmeichel so which 9s forward was he talking about Ian Wright Jean Fran Kola David ginola Teddy shingham it was none other than Liverpool's iconic Winger Steve McManaman born in Bal Boyhood Everton fan McManaman joined Liverpool as a 16-year-old Apprentice in 198 eight after impressing in school football tournaments he spent 2 years in the youth setup before making his first team debut in 1990 the sale of several aging veterans and injuries to key players like John Barnes me that a 19-year-old Maka got the opportunity to impress boss gra sunnes and seal a place in the team at the start of the 9192 season and that's exactly what he did a tall lanky lad with long spendly legs MC manman was blessed with great Pace a classic white boy is two footedness meant he could do a job on either flank an incredibly hard worker with Burless stamina he would run himself into the ground for his team and often cause chaos in the final f with his smart and accurate passing and intelligent runs these attributes were not what most caught the eye when watching the youngster though he was an excellent dribbler of the ball and absolutely Fearless too so he had no reservations in running at and skinning vastly more experienced players his industry energy and skill quickly made him undroppable in suess's eyes and he went on to make 51 appearances in all competitions scoring 11 goals the highlight of Ma has f debut season was undoubtedly the FA Cup Final against Sunderland deployed out left during the first half he was handled well by bracewell and struggled to make a real impact in a tactical Master stroke which changed the course of the game he was switched over to the right hand side after halftime where he had Armstrong and Atkinson on toast just 2 minutes into the second period he Deb the two sanderlin players for pace and skill before chipping a genius ball through to Michael Thomas who finished on the volley this opened the floodgates and Liverpool started to swarm all over Sunderland adding a second 20 minutes after the first through Ian Rush the game ended 2-n and so Maka had a maing campaign to remember as he got his hand on the FA Cup and was named man of the match The Following Season saw him cement his status as one of the most exciting young prospects in the country alongside Manchester United Winger Ryan gigs the two players were eily similar in the way they would strike fear into the opposition with their Flawless dribling giving Defenders nightmares for weeks after facing off against them as is typical of many young Wingers there wasn't always an accurate or appropriate product at the end of his Maisy runs but the potential was there for all to see he ended the season with four goals and six assists in 31 Premier League appearances McManaman started the next season brightly scoring two and assisting one against Winden town on match day3 his form suffered and his confidence was rocked a few weeks later after a notorious incident with his teammate madcap goalkeeper Bruce grar Mara tried to clear in everything corner but meekly flapped at it only succeeding in diverting it towards Mark w Ward who tucked it home grar was furious at his young Winger and the two came to blows overall the season was an important one for the player and the club for a few reasons firstly because it saw the Breakthrough of one of mcmanaman's best friends Striker Robbie Fowler if the two were considered close mates off the pitch then they were virtually conjoined twins sharing one brain on it such was the extent of their understanding secondly that campaign saw the departure of GRA sues in January after being dumped out of the FA Cup by Bristol he was succeeded by Roy Evans Keen to make the most of mcmanaman's Versatility Evans freed him from the constraints of having a fixed position and gave him free license to take his dribbling on tour to cover any part of the pitch he felt like from this time until he left Liverpool Steve McManaman was one of the best midfielders in the league as he sneaked his way around pitches up and down the country stacking up man of the match performances as he was at it there was a sense of anticipation from the crowd anytime he received the ball and he was one of the few players in the league who was guaranteed to left Spectators out of the their seats and [Applause] excitement willing him to go forward always a buzz of excitement and he gets possession he was also a talismanic player for the Reds their own version of can or Zola capable of taking the team to new heights no match typified this more than the 1995 League Cup Final a fixture in which he scored a sensational solo goal to open the scoring Liverpool went on to win 21 and McAn created so many opportunities and pulled the strings for the Reds to such an extent that the match is known to this day as the McManaman final indeed the wizard of the dribble sir Stanley Matthews was so impressed with the player that he said after the match he reminds me of me when I was playing I wish there were more dribblers like him he was such a threat that managers eventually had to instruct a member of their squad to manm Mark and follow McManaman every game under the all action pass and move style of Evans Liverpool undoubtedly played the most attractive and aesthetically pleasing football in the league or at least they could because the only thing you could be sure of with that Liverpool s is that you never knew which one was going to turn up they were infamously inconsistent capable of picking up huge results and blowing away teams like Blackburn man united Newcastle or Arsenal and then going on to lose 1-0 to the likes of Wimbledon or centry it became readily apparent that McManaman was so important to the team that if he was having an off day and not playing well then the team would also perform poorly as Brian Robson pointed out everyone in the Premiership knows that if you stop McManaman you stop Liverpool and it was during this time that Alex became obsessed with doing just that to the point that schichel recalls that his team talks before facing Liverpool were so McManaman Centric that they had become like Groundhog Day Before the 96 FA Cup Final Ferguson had decided that a 19-year-old Phil Neville would be tasked with sticking two and shading McManaman however after consultation with some senior Squad members Ferguson opted against the plan and United would go on to win 1-0 via a late canona goal and a relatively low-key encounter indeed the most exciting thing that happened was that the whole old Liverpool team had turned up in off-white arm Mani suits and paraded around the Wembley Turf before kickoff with the most notorious photos featuring McManaman fower and redn who along with players like David James and Jason mcer were dubbed the spice boys due to the fact they were rumored to prefer the VIP section of China whites to cold rainy nights in centry a criticism often labeled at McManaman during his time at Liverpool was his lack of goals perhaps is a little harsh given the fact that in his nine Seasons at Liverpool he scored 66 in all competitions just 10 less than Ryan gigs managed in the same time frame besides when you have such prolific clinical and natural Strikers as Robie fer and Michael Owen in your team it's not so necessary to chip in with tons of goals as long as you are feeding the front men and feed them he did because maa's middling goal scoring record was more than made up for By His assist Pickers of which he got 86 for the club his most prolific season on that front was a 95 9996 campaign where he laid on 20 for his teammates including a stupendous 15 in the league and although he didn't score loads when he did find the back of the net they more often than not tended to be screamers his Sensational solo goal against Celtic in 1997 was a prime example of that his last two seasons with Liverpool were overshadowed by transfer rumors and contract disputes a bizarre transfer Saga with Barcelona who had previously declared interest in acquiring the player saw an alleged 12 million deal fall through as they were apparently unable to agree on personal terms a bed from Juventus was rejected a new contract could not be sorted out and with his deal entering the final year he publicly expressed his dream of playing abroad and regularly in the Champions League a competition in which he had yet to feature on 30th of January 1999 he signed a pre-contract agreement with Real Madrid throughout this whole debacle McManaman was painted in a bad light by the media who accused him of being a greedy mercenary lacking loyalty a shining example of the rotting modern game his performances on the pitch suffered with his final season at the club being a lackluster one with some Liverpool fans even turning on him branding him as a Judas a traitor or a greedy bastard he overcame the boo boys and rediscovered his form in the last few days of the season and was given a standing ovation as he took a lap of Honor on the pitch in his final match at anfield McManaman was 27 when he joined Real Madrid in July 1999 and a player in his prime he was the most high-profile Englishman to arrive in Spain since Gary ler overcoming a initial feelings of loneliness and homesickness he became an instant hit with the fans assisting morientes his late equalizer against mayorca on Madrid's first game of the season he scored in the following fixture his first match at the bernabo he wasn't exactly a regular in the league in his debut season though amassing just 19 starts in La Liga scoring three and assisting three he was however the main man from Madrid in their Champions League campaign and put in several man of the match performances on the way to the final against Valencia a match which real would win comfortably by three goals to nil with MAA bagging the second and Sir Alex having this to say about his performance I thought McManaman was excellent there is no question he was man of the match he was a threat all night and gave real great penetration from Midfield by getting his hands on the Champions League with Madrid and playing a big part in that Triumph he had proved to the directs back home he had come to Spain for Glory and to write his name in the history books despite his Champions League heroics the appointment of fantino Perez as president and subsequent arrival of the first galactical Louis Figo saw Mar's possession in the site under threat as Perez looked to balance the books offers from midles by Chelsea and Lazio were accepted by the the board but MAA who had 4 years left on a lucrative contract was in no rush to go anywhere and was determined to stay and fight for his place which he did working his way back into the first team after spending the first two months of the season on the bench he was again an important player providing eight goals and two assists as he held Real Madrid to a first La Liga title in four years as more galacticos arrived every year MC manman had to continuously reinvent himself and play in different roles and positions to get minutes on the pitch the fans adored MAA during his time there as the Spanish media would often report on his love of Spanish culture and of life in the capital he immersed himself in it and learned Spanish well there he was arguably more Talis manic in some of the vastly more expensive galactical being voted as the supporter's favorite player twice during his time there a consumate gentleman he was extremely popular and well-liked by his teammates and coaches who saw all the exemplary work he did for the team on and off the field in his remaining two seasons of the bernabo he would win the Champions League again in 2002 scoring in the semi-final against Barcelona and La Liga for the second time in 2003 making him one of the most successful English footballers to ever play abroad in 158 appearances for Los Blancos he scored 14 and assisted 20 he joined Man City in 2003 where he spent two mediocre injury disrupted Seasons before retiring for football in 2005 Maka is a legend of Club football and a hugely popular figure at his former clubs Madrid and Liverpool but what about at International level well his first major tournament for the Three Lions was EUR 96 which was hosted by England McManaman was in centilating form for his country and was arguably England's best player he got off to a blistering start against Switzerland causing absolute chaos down the left wing in a game England Drew one all he built on this positive start and continued to put on masterful displays of delicious dribling against Scotland and the Netherlands in the final group stage games working excellently well with his teammates like Paul Gasco and Alan Sher and Terry shingham they made it to the semis against Germany after playing out a oneall draw in 90 minutes McManaman Bur into the box at the start of extra time and cut it back to anderton who saw his effort strike the post the game went to penalties and England lost with G outgate missing his so impressive was McManaman at the Euros the Brazilian great Pelle had this to say about him he's one of the players that is impressed the most he's got great energy great qualities and is a constant threat to defenses he has pace and skill and isn't afraid to take Defenders on and beat them I'd love to see that in a player and so to the fans this was as good as it got from McManaman and the England national team really as he was prly overlooked for virtually the rest of his career despite tearing the Prem to shreds manager Glenn hodle ignored the Winger who was known throughout his career to be something of a practical joker in the end McMahan made only 37 appearances for England scoring three goals

Channel: FlashBack Football

Views: 171,244

Keywords: sir alex ferguson, manchester united, liverpool, real madrid, champions league, FA cup, Football Stories

Id: Wt4V-D729wY

Length: 12min 13sec (733 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 07 2023