Alex Manninger

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Alex Manninger
Manninger with Juventus in 2010
Personal information
Full name Alexander Manninger[1]
Date of birth (1977-06-04) 4 June 1977 (age 46)
Place of birth Salzburg, Austria
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1984–1995 SV Salzburg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1996 SV Salzburg 1 (0)
1995 → Vorwärts Steyr (loan) 5 (0)
1996–1997 Grazer AK 23 (0)
1997–2002 Arsenal 39 (0)
2001–2002 → Fiorentina (loan) 24 (0)
2002 Espanyol 0 (0)
2003
Torino
 3 (0)
2003–2005
Bologna
 0 (0)
2004–2005 →
Siena
(loan)		 18 (0)
2005–2006 Red Bull Salzburg 16 (0)
2006–2008
Siena
 64 (0)
2008 Red Bull Salzburg 0 (0)
2008 Udinese 0 (0)
2008–2012 Juventus 27 (0)
2012–2016 FC Augsburg 34 (0)
2016–2017 Liverpool 0 (0)
Total 254 (0)
International career
1999–2009 Austria 33 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexander Manninger (born 4 June 1977) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played internationally for the Austria national team on 33 occasions, including at UEFA Euro 2008, and has represented football clubs in Italy, Germany, Austria and England.

Club career

Salzburg, Steyr and Grazer AK

Manninger started his career as a youth player for SV Austria Salzburg in 1993. He was promoted to the first-team squad at the start of the 1995–1996 season. After his debut, and lone appearance of the season, he was sent on loan at SK Vorwärts Steyr, and played his first top-level game away against Grazer AK.

At the start of 1996–97 season he signed for Grazer AK, making his debut in place of the unfit first-choice keeper, in the

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan. He made twenty-four appearances in his lone season with Grazer AK, before a high-profile transfer to Arsenal in the Premier League, where he was understudy to the experienced David Seaman
.

Arsenal, Fiorentina and Espanyol

During the

1998 FA Cup Final
to complete the double.

Manninger continued to deputise for Seaman for the next three seasons. He made sixty-four appearances over four seasons for Arsenal. After the Gunners bought Richard Wright in 2001,[3] Manninger became number three at Arsenal, and spent the 2001–2002 season on loan at Italian side ACF Fiorentina, where he made twenty-four appearances for the Tuscan club.[5]

In July 2002 RCD Espanyol signed Manninger on a four-year deal for £960,000.[6] However, he was released after just two months at Espanyol without making a first team appearance with Manninger claiming that the Barcelona-based club had reneged on the contract.[7][8]

Torino, Bologna, Siena and Salzburg

Manninger subsequently joined Italian side

A.C. Siena for the 2004–05 Serie A
season during which Manninger made nineteen appearances in the league for the Robur.

In July 2005, FC Red Bull Salzburg re-signed Manninger from his parent club Bologna and during season 2005–06 he made sixteen appearances.

Return to Siena, Udinese and Juventus

Manninger returned to

Siena, in Serie A, this time on a permanent basis for the 2006–07 season. He started the season as the club's first choice keeper but he was injured and replaced by Greek international Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos, who retained the first team goalkeeper's jersey once Manninger was fit again. He was first choice again at the start of 2007–08 season, ahead of Eleftheropolous, and Anssi Jaakkola
. In a two-year spell at Siena, Manninger made nearly 70 appearances.

In July 2008, as a non-contract player, he returned to Austria for another spell with

Milan in the summer of 2010, and Manninger was demoted to the role of the club's third–choice goalkeeper.[11][12][13] He was released at the end of the 2011–12 season, following Juventus's league title victory.[14]

Augsburg

After four months without a club, Manninger signed for Bundesliga club FC Augsburg to cover for an injury to regular first-choice goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch.[14] He made his competitive debut for Augsburg in a DFB-Pokal home match against FC Bayern Munich on 18 December 2012. In 2014, he signed a one–year contract extension.[15] and was released at the end of his contract in June 2016 after having made 38 appearances in all competitions for the German side during his time with the team, 36 of which came in the Bundesliga.[16][17]

Liverpool

During July 2016, Manninger trained with Liverpool to maintain match fitness and on 22 July 2016, he signed a short-term contract with the Merseyside club.[18] On 25 May 2017, he announced his retirement from football at the end of his contract.[19]

International career

Manninger made his debut for

Sweden and was member of the Austrian Euro 2008 squad. He earned thirty-three caps and retired after ten years from international football for the Austria national football team
on 5 August 2009.

Style of play

An experienced goalkeeper,[14] Manninger was known in particular for his shot-stopping, consistency, handling, and positional sense as a goalkeeper, although he was less effective at coming out to collect crosses.[20] In his early career, he was considered to be a good back-up keeper, but was occasionally accused by pundits of lacking the ability to cope with pressure which was necessary for him to succeed in a starting role.[21] He also stood out for his professionalism.[14]

Personal life

Before playing football, Manninger was a carpenter. Since retiring from professional football, he has been focussing on his work in furniture and real estate.[22] One such real estate venture for Manninger includes significant holdings in Meininger Hotels, a subsidiary of Holidaybreak.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[23][24][25]
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
SV Salzburg 1995–96 Austrian Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 — 0 0 1 0
Vorwärts Steyr (loan) 1995–96 Austrian Bundesliga 5 0 0 0 — 0 0 5 0
Grazer AK 1996–97 Austrian Bundesliga 23 0 0 0 — 0 0 23 0
Arsenal 1997–98 Premier League 7 0 5 0 4 0 0 0 16 0
1998–99 Premier League 6 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 10 0
1999–2000 Premier League 15 0 1 0 1 0 7 0 24 0
2000–01 Premier League 11 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 14 0
Total 39 0 9 0 7 0 9 0 64 0
Fiorentina (loan) 2001–02 Serie A 24 0 0 0 — 5 0 29 0
Espanyol 2002–03 La Liga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Torino
 2002–03 Serie A 3 0 0 0 — 0 0 3 0
Bologna
 2003–04 Serie A 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Siena
(loan) 		2004–05 Serie A 18 0 0 0 — 0 0 18 0
Red Bull Salzburg 2005–06 Austrian Bundesliga 16 0 0 0 — 0 0 16 0
Siena
 2006–07 Serie A 38 0 0 0 — 0 0 38 0
2007–08 Serie A 26 0 0 0 — 0 0 26 0
Total 64 0 0 0 — 0 0 64 0
Red Bull Salzburg 2008–09 Austrian Bundesliga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Udinese 2008–09 Serie A 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Juventus 2008–09 Serie A 16 0 0 0 — 5 0 21 0
2009–10 Serie A 11 0 1 0 — 2 0 14 0
2010–11 Serie A 0 0 0 0 — 5 0 5 0
2011–12 Serie A 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Total 27 0 1 0 — 12 0 40 0
FC Augsburg 2012–13 Bundesliga 12 0 1 0 — 0 0 13 0
2013–14 Bundesliga 13 0 1 0 — 0 0 14 0
2014–15 Bundesliga 9 0 0 0 — 0 0 9 0
2015–16 Bundesliga 2 0 0 0 — 0 0 2 0
Total 36 0 2 0 — 0 0 38 0
Liverpool 2016–17 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career total 256 0 12 0 7 0 26 0 301 0

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[23]
National team Year Apps Goals
Austria 1999 3 0
2000 2 0
2001 3 0
2002 6 0
2003 0 0
2004 4 0
2005 0 0
2006 1 0
2007 6 0
2008 7 0
2009 1 0
Total 33 0

Honours

Arsenal

Juventus

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Alexander Manninger". Premier League. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b "A complete history of goalkeeping at Arsene Wenger's Arsenal". sport.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  4. ^ "West Ham 1 Arsenal 1 (aet, 3-4 on penalties)". Sporting Life. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Manninger completes Fiorentina switch". BBC Sport. 7 August 2001. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  6. ^ "Manninger joins Espanyol". BBC Sport. 4 July 2002. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  7. ^ "Espanyol release Manninger". BBC Sport. 23 August 2002. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  8. ^ Kendall, Mark. "Alex breaks silence on Espanyol fiasco". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Manninger joins Torino". BBC Sport. 14 January 2003. Retrieved 16 June 2008.
  10. ^ "Manninger swaps Udinese for Juve". UEFA.com. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  11. ^ Radaelli, Roberta (21 November 2008). "Juve tranquilla nelle mani di Manninger" (in Italian). UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Buffon return unknown". Sky Sports. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  13. ^ Ormezzano, Timothy (5 July 2010). "Buffon super, ma io non mi sento un vice". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d "Manninger making up for lost time". Bundesliga. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Manninger pens one-year Augsburg extension". FourFourTwo. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  16. ^ Price, Glenn (11 July 2016). "Liverpool consider signing Manninger, Danny Ward joins Huddersfield on loan". ESPN FC. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  17. ^ Chaffer, Alex (17 August 2016). "Weinzierl exit heralds new era for Augsburg". DW. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Liverpool complete deal for Alex Manninger". liverpoolfc.com. Liverpool F.C. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  19. ^ "Manninger set to retire: 'Keeper on career, LFC experience and future". liverpoolfc.com. Liverpool F.C. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  20. ^ Stefano Bedeschi (4 June 2016). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Alex MANNINGER" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  21. ^ Ladyman, Ian (30 November 2000). "Manninger: I'll prove I can cope". ESPN FC. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  22. ^ Husmukh Kerai (3 October 2017). "Gianluigi Buffon wrote the book on how to be a top goalkeeper – Manninger". www.squawka.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Manninger, Alex". National-Football-Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  24. ^ a b c d "A. MANNINGER". Soccerway. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  25. ^ "Alex Manninger". Soccerbase. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  26. ^ a b "Alexander Manninger: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 April 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Manninger.
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