▁Spanish ▁media ▁out lets ▁like ▁El ▁País , ▁eager ▁to ▁make ▁sense ▁of ▁why ▁Madrid ▁were ▁ins isting ▁on ▁signing ▁Mc Man aman ▁when ▁he ▁had ▁not ▁even ▁featured ▁much ▁in ▁the ▁last ▁World ▁Cup , ▁concluded ▁that ▁the ▁only ▁r ationale ▁to ▁explain ▁Mc Man aman ' s ▁non - selection ▁by ▁H odd le ▁must ▁have ▁been ▁because ▁Mc Man aman ▁was ▁known ▁as ▁a ▁free ▁role - play ing ▁play maker , ▁and ▁was ▁" diff icult ▁to ▁class ify . ▁He ▁needs ▁the ▁point ▁of ▁freedom ... not ▁provided ▁in ▁the ▁English ▁team " ▁and ▁that ▁he ▁was ▁therefore ▁by ▁imp lication , ▁difficult ▁to ▁place ▁into ▁H odd le ' s ▁system . ▁ ▁When ▁interview ed ▁by ▁Four F our Two ▁magazine , ▁Mc Man aman ▁stated , ▁" I ▁think ▁I ▁probably ▁least ▁enjoyed ▁my ▁time ▁when ▁Gl enn ▁H odd le ▁was ▁the ▁manager . ▁But ▁I ▁wouldn ' t ▁say ▁he ▁was ▁necessarily ▁the ▁worst . ▁He ▁had ▁his ▁ways ▁of ▁training ▁and ▁ways ▁of ▁acting ▁and ▁all ▁man agers ▁have ▁different ▁ways ▁of ▁doing ▁things ; ▁it ' s ▁the ▁same ▁with ▁club ▁man agers . ▁Sometimes ▁when ▁you ▁join ▁up ▁with ▁England ▁and ▁you ▁don ' t ▁play ▁as ▁often ▁as ▁you ▁did ▁under ▁a ▁certain ▁other ▁manager ▁– ▁then ▁you ' ll ▁think ▁it ' s ▁terrible . ▁I ▁loved ▁going ▁to ▁play ▁with ▁England . ▁For ▁instance , ▁I ▁did ▁get ▁to ▁go ▁to ▁the ▁World ▁Cup ▁even ▁though ▁I