Ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman spoke to Squawka to build his perfect footballer from former teammates.
The Englishman was a two-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, also winning the La Liga title twice. He also won the FA Cup and EFL Cup with Liverpool, having broken through from the academy.
Squawka gave McManaman eight different attributes that we believe are all key to a footballer, and building a player in general. These are: left foot, right foot, heading, pace, strength, football brain, skills and mentality.
McManaman was spoilt for choice.
Left foot
“I was going to say Robbie Fowler because he’s got a great left foot,” McManaman pondered. McManaman only played more games with David James (270) than he did Fowler (264) during his career, for Liverpool, Manchester City and England.
McManaman described Fowler as his best mate, but that friendship wasn’t enough to be the best left-footer. That player came from McManaman’s four-year stay at Real Madrid. And it was one he played more times with than any other player at Los Blancos.
“But I will go for Roberto Carlos, because he’s got a magnificent left foot.”
Right foot
“I will go for Steven Gerrard.”
McManaman caught Gerrard at the wrong end of his career for the Englishman to be included in the following sections. Even though he would fit for a few. Gerrard made his Liverpool debut in McManaman’s final season at the club, and they shared a pitch just seven times for the Reds. But the limited time on the pitch, and time in training, was clearly enough for McManaman to see the quality.
Heading
“I’ll have to go for a central defender with heading ability. I think I’ll go for somebody like Fernando Hierro, who was my captain for Real Madrid,” McManaman said. The pair won six trophies during their time at Real Madrid, and they left at the same time too. McManaman returned to England with Man City, while Hierro joined Al-Rayyan in Qatar before making the move to Bolton Wanderers.
“He was a wonderful captain and a great player.”
Pace
“R9 (Ronaldo Nazario),” McManaman said without hesitation.
“He was quick. He was lightning quick. I mean, I could go for Michael Owen as well. Michael Owen was quick off the mark, but probably R9.”
When asked if he thought Ronaldo would beat Owen in a race, McManaman replied: “I don’t know actually, but over like five yards. I think R9’s early pace, before he had his poor ACL injuries, he was lightning when he was at Barca and Milan.
“When I played with him, he was really quick over like five or six yards, those little short movements. So I’ll probably go for R9. He’s a superstar.”
Strength
“Let me see. Someone like (Claude) Makelele, was very strong. He wasn’t a towering midfielder, but he was incredibly strong. And his ability to hold the ball was brilliant. So I’d probably go for Claude. I thought he was an outstanding footballer.
“He was amazing, he really was. We had some good players playing for Real Madrid, but he was by far the most important. He really was. Everybody spoke about Zizou (Zinedine Zidane) and people like that. But if Claude wasn’t there, we couldn’t operate.
“I know the Makelele Role got talked about when he went to Chelsea, but he was far more important in the Real Madrid shirt.”
Footballing brain
“It could have been Steven,” McManaman admitted, but there was a clearer option in his mind.
“Zizou. Zizou was a beautiful football. I thought his brain was brilliant, always miles ahead of people.”
Zidane joined Real Madrid midway through McManaman’s time at the club, but a mutual respect was quickly built. When McManaman was left out of England’s squad for the 2002 World Cup, Zidane spoke of his surprise in Sven Goran Eriksson leaving out a player “of his quality”.
Zidane said: “If England do not pick him, it would be a terrible waste, both for the side and for McManaman. If they don’t take him to the World Cup, they’ll regret it.”
Skills
“I played with John Barnes, who was my idol growing up. Well, when I joined Liverpool he was my idol, he was a Watford player of course. But I thought Barnes’ skill level was outstanding.
“Luis Figo was the same. But Barnes was the one for me. When I was watching him in ’87, ’88, when I had just joined Liverpool, I thought he was the most outstanding player on the football field.”
Mentality
“That could be loads of people I played with. That could be loads of people. You could go back to like Tony Adams, as a captain for my England team. He had a great mentality. Stuart Pearce in my England team, (Alan) Shearer in my England team. These were men and these were leaders. So there’s so many of them, let me try and choose one.
“I think someone like Alan Shearer. He had a great mentality. He’d run through a brick wall. Tony Adams was the same. Any of my captains were great leaders of men. You know, let’s go for Tony Adams. He was my leader in the dressing room when I played for England and when I played in Euro 96. I always thought he was a great captain.”
Steve McManaman was speaking on behalf of bet365, Official Global Partner of the UEFA Champions League. This season, bet365 will be once again running the Big Ticket Giveaway game giving fans the chance to win tickets to every single UEFA Champions League match starting with the Round 1 ballot which opens on 31st August. Registration Required. T&Cs Apply, 18+. GambleAware.org