English Premier League: the other American soccer league

This past weekend saw a new Premier League season begin. Plenty of intrigue, talent and fandom. Mourinho returns to Chelsea, Manchester United have no Ferguson at the helm, transfer rumors persist, and new American signings bring it home for the fans Stateside. Oh, and throw in the newly-minted coverage by NBC networks and you can see this is a league growing in attention in this country.

Scarcely a few months ago we all got the news that Fox Soccer would no longer hold Premier League matches and would be transitioned into Fox Sports 1 coverage. The NBC networks acquired an expensive, yet lucrative deal, to broadcast the entire Premier League season. This included games on NBS Sports and also on network NBC on the lower end of the dial for the Manchester United opening game. 

There have been few major "splash" signings this summer the like of Fernando Torres or Luis Suarez, although Soldado to Tottenham was impressive. Indeed, it seems like more players are leaving the league these days. Some of these include our own Clint Dempsey and targets like Gareth Bale and Chicharito Hernandez. Internally, Arsenal has tried to capture Suarez from Liverpool, Manchester United has posted bids for Fellaini and Chelsea has looked to sign Rooney. United remains interested in Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea is looking at acquiring Eto'o.

Unlike major player transfers, this season is full of significant changes in coaching. From David Moyes taking over Manchester United to the return of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, much of the attention this season will be focused on the sidelines. For Everton, the departure of Moyes will be particularly crucial for US goalkeeper Tim Howard as Roberto Martinez begins his tenure as manager.

But why does America care so much about this league? To start, there are several Americans playing: goalkeepers Howard (Everton) and Guzan (Aston Villa), attacking ace Jozy Altidore (Sunderland) and Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Brek Shea (Stoke City), Agudelo (starting January with Stoke City), Edu (on loan from Stoke City). Past players include Claudio Reyna (Sunderland, Manchester City), Brian McBride (Fulham), Bobby Convey (Reading), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Tim Ream (Bolton), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Landon Donovan (Everton) and Clint Dempsey (Tottenham Hotspur).

Beyond the American presence is an innate allure of most things England and the cross-Atlantic reach of teams like Manchester United and Arsenal, as well as others with slightly lower following (i.e. Chelsea, Liverpool). Many soccer followers with ties to other countries tend to follow the league to keep pace with compatriots (Hernandez for Mexico, for example). There is also the appeal of other sports like American football (NFL) games in London that cross-pollinate with soccer. Other risky broadcasting moves include airing major EPL matches including Manchester United before the Superbowl, a major undertaking by Fox.

There is also the inevitable presence of so-called "soccer purists." These are folks that view American soccer with a certain degree of disdain and prefer a faster-paced, star-laden league such as the Premier League. This factor, along with coverage of all matches this season through NBC networks, including Telemundo and online access, make the Premier league the other American soccer league.

SoccerBud: Jamie Trecker

Jamie Trecker has angered me more than once with his highly oppininated and blatantly negative comments about US soccer, the federation, and the MLS. He has received much hate mail from soccer fans, probably myself included although I can't remember. Some info on Trecker first from the Chicago Reader: "In addition to writing for Fox Sports, Trecker also works as the soccer research department for ESPN International, which contracts him to compile a weekly report of scores, statistics, and analysis of matches worldwide. The document, which the network consults when putting together its soccer telecasts and highlights reels, can run as long as 200 pages."
Just recently Trecker has posted highly negative chronicles on the national team's games against England and Spain, and lukewarm previews on the recent matches (the game against Argentina is this Sunday on ESPNClassic), as well as comments on LA's form during their first match.
I must say I disagree with Trecker on a lot of fronts. He may come from a renowned soccer journalism background (his father Jerry Trecker was an editor and sportswriter at the Hartford Courant for almost 40 years; he was among the first writers at an American daily to cover soccer regularly) and covering the sport with 5 TVs plugged into five different satellite dishes and anough knowledge of Spanish, German, Italian, and French to follow the sport from multidimensional angles, but his treatment of national players is sometimes ridiculous. We want to see the sport and the league grow in this country and although some negatives must be divulged along the way as a result of progress, it is also important to keep focused on what we should do to elevate the game in this country. He reminds me most of my uncle Mauro Velasquez, also a renowned figure in soccer journalism in Ecuador and most of the Spanish-speaking world (he has featured in several times on Spain's "Don Balon" magazine). Velasquez was often opinionated and extremely negative of Ecuador soccer, even during its recent surge onto the world scene.
But back to Trecker... Please take a breather, bud. Give us a hint of how the game can be improved. Give us positives about the league and the game. A man with such wealth of information should not constrict himself to the dark side of the sport. Yes, the US team looked horrible against England and yes, the MLS is not what soccer purists want. But recognize this... the US played a great game yesterday that only lost pace in the second half due to the absence of Adu and the unfortunate lack of play from Wolff. The MLS is still a work in progress and classic soccer league organization complete with relegation, salary caps and scheduling is still a few years away when the dust of league genesis settles.
I don't agree when he says that "life has more disappointments than anything else." Our triumphs eclipse all other things. What do we remember Maradona for most of all? Two things... Mexico 1986, quarter finals, Argentina 2 - England 1: His "hand of God" goal and the most beautiful play in World Cup history for the second goal.
Don't cheat us with the negatives... give us good. Soccer has come too far in this country to throw it all away with a few simple words.