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Macca back McManaman returns, confident of Real success
Posted: Saturday December 11, 1999 12:20 PM
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- After spending most of the season in the sick bay, English midfielder Steve McManaman should be back whizzing down the wing for Real Madrid on Sunday. And he has just one goal: get the storied team out of the doldrums. "When I first got injured we were high up in the league and just as I was recovering I got injured again with the [English] international team. Now it's very important to get back in the squad and help the team again," said the perpetually cheerful McManaman after practice at Madrid's Ciudad Deportiva practice ground. A former hero for Liverpool, the shaggy-haired left-winger was hired by John Toshack as one of Madrid's trump signings this season. But his start couldn't have been worse. After two long injury spells and just two goals -- and Toshack fired -- Macca, as he is popularly known, returns as the flagship of Castilian soccer founders in 17th place in the 20-team Primera Division after 14 games. Real Madrid has been strong in the European Champions League and a flop in Spain, and McManaman is stumped to explain why. "We haven't had a bad start this season," he said. "We finished atop the Champions League in the first round, and again in the second round on Tuesday. I don't know why we are playing so well in the Champions League and not so well in the [Spanish] league." McManaman is even confident Real Madrid can clinch its 27th league title despite winning only one of its last 12 league matches. On Sunday, it plays against Racing de Santander. "We haven't given up, we want to win the league, it's very important that we climb up the table now." he said. While the lean Liverpudlian hasn't had much success on the pitch, at least he has not made enemies. That's more than can be said of French teammate Nicolas Anelka, the club's and Spain's most expensive signing ever, but who has had serious problems settling down to life with one of the world's top teams. "Everything is going very smooth," McManaman said, adding the Spanish language was his only barrier despite daily classes from a private teacher. Quizzed on the differences between Spanish and English football, McManaman said he still hadn't played enough in Spain to notice any, beyond the obvious one -- the weather. For the moment, he has no plans to change clubs or go back to England. "My family want me to go back," he said. "My family miss me, I don't know if anybody else does." While he's light-years from being as recognizable as Real Madrid stars like Raul, Anelka or Roberto Carlos, McManaman likes to boast that already he is well known. "Fans recognize me when they see me on the street, although they can't pronounce my name very well yet," said the 27-year-old Englishman who has grown accustomed to his name being butchered. "In England the more I got known, the more people pronounced it correctly," he said. "But I still go back to England and people can't say my name properly."
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