We’re pleased to have one of leading figures in the American soccer media as this week’s guest. Jen Chang is the senior editor for soccer at SI.com (the digital arm of the venerable American magazine Sports Illustrated). He heads editorial coverage of the beautiful game and writes regularly for SI.com.
NESN.com: What do you make of Liverpool’s chances for a top-four finish this season? What excites you about this Liverpool team? What worries you most about the team?
Chang: I think it’s safe to assume that going into the season, everyone connected with Liverpool, the fans and the organization alike, thought Liverpool was well-positioned for a run at a UEFA Champions League spot. Ten games or so into the season, while the two Manchester teams look to be a notch above the rest, it seems that Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal are all in the mix for the third and fourth spots. Newcastle is, of course, arguably the biggest surprise of the season, but Alan Pardew’s squad will need to stay clear of injury and also manage without Demba Ba and Cheik Tiote in January while they’re away at the Africans Nations’ Cup in January.
As for Liverpool, I think one of the biggest positives is the improved depth and flexibility the team’s roster now has compared to the past two seasons. Personnel-wise it can switch between 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 effectively and in Luis Suarez, Liverpool has (without question) one of the Premier League’s top five talents.
In terms of the organization itself, Liverpool is sounder than it has been for quite some time, administration-wise and commercially and with the new owners, I think they’ve made a welcome transition to more of a modern, progressive approach. The youth system and philosophy has been revamped and is starting to produce far more talent after a long, lean period where very few quality Premier League talents came through.
On the downside, I think Liverpool still lack a little goal-scoring firepower and consistent finishing. There’s not a huge amount of depth at striker behind Andy Carroll once you take Suarez out of the equation. There’s also no pure winger in the first team squad behind Stewart Downing in the event he goes down.
NESN.com: What do you make of the burgeoning partnership between Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez? Do you think it will work in the long-term?
Chang: I can see the appeal of pairing Carroll and Suarez. It’s the classic big, target man and little man combo (although Suarez really isn’t that little at 5-foot-11) and if everything clicks, could potentially develop into the new-age John Toshack–Kevin Keegan combination. Having said that, I personally think Suarez would probably benefit from playing with a more mobile, intuitive player, along the lines of an Edinson Cavani or a Falcao, but he’s such a good player he can work effectively in tandem with anyone.
I think the success of this partnership will depend greatly on Carroll and his commitment to being in peak shape and learning to make cleverer runs off the ball into the space and linking more effectively with Suarez. The onus is really on Carroll in my opinion. The early signs are that it’s still a work in progress, but recent signs have been more promising.
It’s also worth remembering that former striker Fernando Torres admitted that when he came to Liverpool, former manager Rafa Benitez worked with him and greatly improved the timing and movement of his runs and how to arc more effectively behind defenders. One has to assume that the more Kenny Dalglish works with Carroll, the more improvement he’ll also see in this respect.
NESN.com: It’s time for Liverpool to imagine a future without Steve Gerrard in the team. What do you expect from him over the next two to four seasons?
Chang: I think we’re still at least two to three seasons away from having to imagine a Gerrard-less Liverpool team or one where he doesn’t feature strongly. He’s had some bad luck with injuries lately, and a couple have been of the freak nature (infections). He looked much the same when he came back recently, so I’d argue that the bigger dilemma continues to be where his best position is for the team. Is it in central midfield or in a more advanced position in the hole slot where he can drive forward and get into the box more? I’d prefer to see him used in that second striker or attacking midfield role.
NESN.com: What do you make of the talk of Jamie Carragher as a future manager? Do you think he would make a good manager? Would you like to see him as Liverpool manager?
Chang: I think one has to be cautious here when debating Carragher’s merits as manager. Obviously his contribution to the club and status as a legend speaks for itself, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to success at the managerial level as many other playing icons have found.
Granted, it’s well known that Carragher is an avid student of the game but he has no top-flight experience as a coach and is unproven in that field. It’s also debatable what type of system he would implement given his own playing style and whether or not it’d suit LFC’s traditional philosophy.
It also remains to be seen how he would handle the transition and bridge the interpersonal requirements of a modern-day manager at a big club (which is very different from being a teammate) given the “United Nations” outlook and squad makeup most top teams have these days.
NESN.com: Give us your take on Major League Soccer. What does it need to do to capture the attention of the American sporting public? How does the league raise its profile globally?
Chang: Major League Soccer continues to grow. It’s a gradual process and massive growth isn’t going to happen overnight in a country that’s so entrenched with four other major sports, but the interest and the following is clearly growing. However, since I’ve been covering the league, the quality has grown markedly and the latest figures show that average attendance in MLS is greater than that of the NBA and NHL. In fact, among worldwide soccer leagues, MLS ranks 10th overall so it’s definitely healthy.
The more concerning aspect is the continued poor TV ratings overall, but I think that over time as the product gets better, and the salary cap increases, the subsequent influx of more quality players in greater quantity will see those ratings grow. Ultimately Americans like to feel they’re watching the best talent there is to offer, so until the league gets closer to the level of some of the top European leagues, there’s always going to be a shortfall in the ratings.
NESN.com: You’ve led soccer coverage in America for many years, and one obvious drawback is that it’s not a “major” mainstream sport here. What is unique about covering the game in this country? Are there any advantages to covering the world’s game from a place that is not soccer-mad?
I wouldn’t say there’s anything unique per se, other than the nuances that separate MLS from European leagues — i.e. no relegation and promotion, playoffs, the draft, etc. From an advantage standpoint, the U.S. media can often get easier access to European teams and players than our European counterparts since most European teams are trying to grow their brand in the U.S. and also don’t have the same wary attitude to U.S. coverage of soccer that they do toward some of the European tabloid focused coverage.
Similarly, when teams are over here in the summer on their preseason tours etc., we typically are given a lot of time with the players and access that they usually won’t grant.
Thanks again to Jen Chang for answering our questions. You can read more from Jen by clicking here. You can also follow Jen on Twitter at @JenChang88.
Photo courtesy of Flickr/NeverOffside
