way McManaman was treated after McManaman turned down again another transfer attempt, this time to Lazio, who came in with an £8 million offer. In September of that year, several Real Madrid first-team stars were reported as having taken up a dressing room revolt collectively for McManaman and went to speak to Del Bosque directly. The Guardian reported that a Marca article had one prominent player stating: "We cannot stand by while this is happening. What happened to Redondo happened — well in the end Fernando had a good offer — but McManaman, what has Macca done to deserve the treatment he is getting from the manager?...[McManaman has been] treated with disrespect and is being humiliated—for no reason at all." An El País report in early September 2000 reported Del Bosque as being sympathetic (albeit the fact that his hands were tied) concerning McManaman with Del Bosque saying: "I expected the audience to be affectionate with McManaman because he is a player very dear here. We will try to unite Real Madrid through the game although there are sectors that think more about those who are not." McManaman meanwhile was adamant that even if the situation to get him to leave was created around him, no one from the club's hierarchy ever told him to leave to his face, with the Spanish press even expressing the strange paradox of the whole situation by revealing that Del Bosque had actually rated McManaman highly and was quoted as saying: "Steve es el que entiende mejor cómo quiero que juguemos" ("Steve is the player in the team who best understands how I want us to play"). Real Madrid's hierarchy's change toward McManaman began when Del Bosque gave him his first appearance of the 2000–01 season as a substitute in a 3–3 draw against Málaga in mid-September. McManaman reportedly won over the manager by October and managed to feature in two-thirds of the club's matches, becoming a first-team regular for the remainder of the campaign—holding the unique distinction of being described as the only top-class football player from England playing overseas at the time. McManaman was also primarily deployed as a left-winger in this season (with Figo on the right), with the press noting that "the 'telepathy' McManaman and Roberto Carlos displayed down Madrid's left flank flummoxed almost every team they played." McManaman shone in this second season as Madrid advanced to the semi-finals