McManaman was under the mentorship of John Barnes and many regarded McManaman as a player who could potentially replace Barnes in the future. McManaman was said to be a natural athlete; having been a cross country champion at school level. Club career Liverpool 1990–93: Early years McManaman developed through the youth scheme at Liverpool and signed as a full professional on 19 February 1990 in what was to be Kenny Dalglish's final full season as manager. He made his Liverpool debut under Dalglish as a substitute for Peter Beardsley in the Football League First Division on 15 December 1990, in a 2–0 league win over Sheffield United at Anfield, and made his full debut the following season (by which time Graeme Souness had become the new manager) in a 2–1 win over Oldham Athletic; a game in which The Guardian reported that he "ran his legs into the ground" all day and assisted his mentor John Barnes in scoring the late winner by flicking on Mark Walters' cross. He scored his first ever professional goal with a diving header four days later on 21 August 1991 in the 2–1 defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road. The 19-year-old McManaman quickly became a regular first team player in the 1991–92 season, making 51 appearances in total in only his first full season—opportunities in the first team coming as a result of then manager Souness' decision to sell several ageing players; as well as when Barnes suffered a career threatening achilles tendon injury. McManaman was deployed as a left- or right-sided forward, backing the club's new signing Dean Saunders—a move Saunders reluctantly accepted at first, having realised that Souness "had [no choice but] to bring kids like McManaman into the team before they were properly ready." Saunders began to change his mind as the season progressed—following McManaman's ability to form an attacking partnership with him—with McManaman managing to create and score several goals across the league and in the side's run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, as well as in the FA Cup, eventually collecting a FA Cup winner's medal. In that 1992 FA Cup final where Liverpool triumphed 2–0 against Sunderland, McManaman was also named the man of the match having set up the winner for Michael Thomas, despite being the youngest player on the pitch. McManaman's performances saw him described by Ian Rush as the most promising young