Posts tagged FOX Soccer

This past Sunday, the first episode of a six-part documentary series called Being: Liverpool aired on Fox. The series is structured much like Hard Knocks, the NFL films/HBO product that gives a behind the scenes look at NFL franchise preparing for an upcoming season. For people who enjoy watching English Premier League soccer, this is must-see TV. But even if you’re not a hardcore soccer fan, there’s plenty to like about this program.

The Liverpool Football Club is one of the most storied clubs in Europe. Founded in 1892, the club has won 18 League titles, seven FA Cups and eight League cups. The club has also won more European titles than any other team in England, with five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups. So yea, the team is kind of a big deal.

Being: Liverpool gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the personalities that make up this club. New manager Brendan Rodgers, who shows a strong, borderline philosophical passion for the game is profiled heavily in the first episode, as is the Red Sox-connected crew that owns the team, the Fenway Sports Group.

Unlike Hard Knocks, which follows a very linear view of a team’s progress, Being: Liverpool jumps around quite a bit chronologically. The home- life view of players and their families is always fun to see. Watching Steven Gerrard with his fam and Luis Suarez hanging out outside the pitch with teammates Lucas Levia and Sebastian Coates (playing Monopoly of all things) was interesting, but the first episode didn’t really delve too deep into the individual players.

The first episode didn’t dive in too deep on topics like the exit of former manager Kenny Dalglish. It’s talked about a lot, but in broad strokes and without any actual interview footage of Dalglish himself. Manager Brendan Rodgers is the star of the show. His interviews come across as forthright and interesting. He also has a huge picture of himself hanging on the wall at his home. You gotta love that.

It doesn’t hurt that the whole thing is narrated by Clive Owen. That guy could read a phone book and make it sound interesting.

Even though the first episode was a bit surface-scratching, I’m hopeful that things will pick up a bit. My DVR is definitely set to record the whole series.