| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Manninger | ||
| Date of birth | 4 June 1977 | ||
| Place of birth | Salzburg, Austria | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Juventus | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1995 | SV Salzburg | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1995–1996 | SV Salzburg | 1 | (0) |
| 1995–1996 | → Vorwärts Steyr (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | Grazer AK | 24 | (0) |
| 1997–2002 | Arsenal | 30 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | → Fiorentina (loan) | 24 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | Espanyol | 0 | (0) |
| 2003 | Torino | 3 | (0) |
| 2003–2005 | Bologna | 0 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | → Siena (loan) | 19 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Red Bull Salzburg | 16 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Siena | 64 | (0) |
| 2008 | Red Bull Salzburg | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | Udinese | 0 | (0) |
| 2008– | Juventus | 27 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999–2009 | Austria | 33 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alexander "Alex" Manninger (born 4 June 1977) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Juventus F.C. in the Italian Serie A. He has played for a variety of high-profile clubs, almost always as a substitute.
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Manninger started his career as a youth member 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. After a strong performance in goal, along with 5 other seasonal appearances, Grazer opted to sign the young player as backup goalkeeper in summer 1996. Manninger's first match was a baptism of fire, after first-choice goalkeeper Franz Almer fell ill before the autumn 1996 UEFA Cup second round game against Internazionale Milano, Manninger found himself making his debut in the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. He put in a strong performance and pulled off several high-quality saves as GAK narrowly lost 1–0. In the return leg, GAK won 1–0 to level the aggregate score at 1–1, but lost in the resulting penalty shoot-out. He managed to make 24 appearances in his lone season with the club, before a high profile transfer to Arsenal in the FA Premier League.
After remaining the first-choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 1996–1997 season he was signed by Arsenal F.C. in June 1997 as cover for David Seaman. During the 1997–98 season Seaman suffered a long spell out injured and Manninger ably covered for him, enjoying a spell of six clean sheets in a row in the league, a club record. The last of these was against Manchester United at Old Trafford, where Arsenal won 1–0. In March 1998 he was named Premier League Player of the Month, a first for an understudy goalkeeper in the Premier League. However, Manninger had to make way for Seaman once the Englishman returned from injury. Manninger also unusually was awarded a winners medal for the 1997/8 season despite not reaching the minimum number of games needed for this to be the case, as the Premier League ruled that his contribution was so significant that it deserved a medal. Manninger continued to deputise for Seaman for the next three seasons, but without a consistent run in the side he was unable to maximise his potential. In all he made only 64 appearances over four seasons for Arsenal. After the Gunners bought Richard Wright in 2001, Manninger became number three at Arsenal, and spent the 2001–2002 season on loan at Italian side ACF Fiorentina, making 24 appearances for the Tuscan club.[1]
Manninger returned to Arsenal from his loan spell in June 2002, but he was instantly put onto the transfer market by the London based club. In July 2002 RCD Espanyol signed Manninger on a four-year deal for £960,000.[2] However, to much surprise, the Spanish club released Manninger just seven weeks later, even prior to making a first team appearance. Doubts were raised as to whether his transfer from Arsenal had been fully completed,[3] although Manninger claimed Espanyol did not have the money to pay his fee.[4]
Manninger joined Torino F.C. in January 2003,[5] after spending the first portion of the season without game time. He stayed in Torino for just six months before joining Bologna FC in the summer of 2003. He spent two years with the club but was unable to break into the first team. He had a short loan spell with Brescia Calcio in July 2004, but was immediately sent back and sent to A.C. Siena in August of the same year, also on loan. During the 2004–2005 Serie A season, Manninger obtained 19 appearances for the Robur.
In July 2005, FC Red Bull Salzburg had re-signed Manninger from Bologna. Following his return to Austria, Manninger still failed to appear on a regular basis, and appeared just 16 times for the club, before transferring away from the club, again in the summer of 2006.
In the summer of 2006, Manninger returned to AC Siena, in the Italian Serie A, however this time it was on a permanent basis. He started the season as the club's first choice keeper before, an injury led to the appointment of Greek international, Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos as the first-choice goalkeeper. Once Manninger returned from injury, he was used as a back-up before re-earning his spot as the first choice, ahead of Eleftheropolous, and Anssi Jaakkola. He would remain the starter at Siena again in the 2007–2008 season, and in his two full seasons with the club, Manninger made nearly 70 appearances. At the conclusion of the season, Manninger's contract was not re-newed and hence he became a free agent.
At the end of the 2007–2008 season he returned to Austria from Italy to sign again for his former club, FC Red Bull Salzburg on free transfer, but did not stay for long. In July 2008, Manninger moved back to Italy with Udinese Calcio, where he was signed to not only replace the departing Antonio Chimenti as a reserve keeper to but also to fight it out with Samir Handanovic for the starting spot.[6] However, he stayed with the club for only a two weeks before signing for Juventus FC.
In 2008, Manninger was signed by Juventus as a backup for Gianluigi Buffon from Udinese Calcio. Incidentally, in Antonio Chimenti another goalkeeper was transferred from Udine in the same transfer window to become the club's third choice.[7] Due to a long-term injury to Juventus and Italy number one goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Manninger played from early October 2008 through late February 2009. Since his transfer to the Turin club, the former Austrian international has made over 35 appearances in all competitions, in part due to the injuries sustained by Buffon, however, due to Storari signing he is no longer second choice.
Manninger made his debut for Austria in an August 1999 friendly match against Sweden and was member of the Austrian Euro 2008 squad. He has so far as of August 2008 earned 33 caps and retired after ten years from International football for the Austria national football team on 5 August 2009.[8]
| Austria national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 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 |
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