on Opta statistics, revealing that despite a poor goalscoring record, McManaman had, in fact, an 88% dribbling completion rate (having embarked on a run every 17 minutes), and an 84% pass completion rate, all three of which were higher by over 15% than any English midfield Premiership player at the time. However, the same statistics also cast light on a different kind of dilemma for Eriksson after it was revealed that: "...For Real Madrid, he (McManaman) completed 83% of his passes and while that figure only fell to 82% in the Champions League it dropped to 73% when he was wearing an England shirt. For Madrid, he completed 85% of his dribbles and runs in the league and 83% in Europe but under Eriksson for England he only managed to keep the ball 63% of the time...the general belief for this drop in form when playing for England is simple. At Liverpool and Real Madrid, McManaman was in a side that liked to hold possession and move the ball about, pull teams apart and create spaces to move into. England tend to be more direct and less patient with their football and keep a more rigid formation. While at Anfield he was given pretty much a free-role and at Real Madrid the players all move about as they pass teams into submission, but England stick to a 4-4-2 formation and that does not suit him." Player profile Style of play A hard-working, versatile and technically gifted player, McManaman was usually deployed as a winger, or occasionally as a central midfielder. His preferred position, however, was that of a more offensive and creative attacking midfielder, an uncommon position in the Premier League throughout his career. McManaman was a quick, strong, creative, and energetic player with tremendous dribbling ability as well as accurate passing and crossing ability with either foot. This allowed him to create chances and provide assists for team-mates. He was often criticised, however, for his inability to score many goals, although he would later improve upon this element of his game during the peak of his career. In October 2016, McManaman was nominated for the award of England's best dribbler of all time, an award eventually won by Sir Stanley Matthews. However, McManaman was sometimes criticised for scoring too few goals, although he did make up for this with a formidable rate of assists for the likes of Robbie