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Coming To America: One Tremendous Defensive Midfielder, West Ham-Wigan

Jun 12, 2009, 8:00 PM UTC

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Both the imminent destructionâ†µof Irish broadcaster Setanta and FIFA’s decision to relax regulations onâ†µplayers switching national teams offer boons to the American footieâ†µfan. â†µâ†µOne: EPL soccer, which ESPN bid on and was denied byâ†µFox Soccer Channel and Setanta, could finally arrive on American shoresâ†µif the WWL, which has long wanted a European foothold, picks up theâ†µrights Setanta would default upon in a bankruptcy. (They’ve already saidâ†µthey have noâ†µplans to bid for the whole company.) Sky Sports, which has most ofâ†µthe EPL’s six television packages, can’t buy Sentata’s stake because ofâ†µanti-trust concerns. That leaves ESPN relatively free and clear to pickâ†µup the package. â†µ

â†µâ†µNot that it’s a terrific set of games. Apparently the Setanta packageâ†µis strictly B-list stuff like Fulham-Birmingham and the like, but that’sâ†µwhere the Americans will be playing anyway, right? â†µ

â†µâ†µTwo: The FIFA rules change has freed up any playerâ†µwho 1) hasn’t already switched teams and 2) hasn’t played in aâ†µcompetitive match for his country to switch to a team he is eligibleâ†µfor. Schalke defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones, the son of an Americanâ†µserviceman stationed in Germany, has leaptâ†µat the chance to play for the USMNT. Jones speaks zero English and is pretty much just aâ†µGermany guy, but due to some friction between the German soccerâ†µfederation and himself -- he didn’t make the Euro 2008 team -- he’s decided toâ†µcast his lot with the Yanks.â†µ

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â†µIs this a big deal? From all reports, hell yes. Ivesâ†µGalarcep: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥So who is Jermaine Jones? He’s a talented 27-year old who will easilyâ†µâ‡¥be one of the best midfielders in the U.S. pool the minute he puts on aâ†µâ‡¥uniform.â†µâ†µâ†µThough Jones wasn’t able to break through into the German first teamâ†µon a regular basis, he did have three caps in friendlies and was one ofâ†µthe last guys to miss out on the European Championship side. He’s widelyâ†µregarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Bundesliga, aâ†µleague Landon Donovan’s been laughed out of twice. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe only downer is that Jones plays a spot that the US isâ†µwell-stocked at. (Well, that and his tendency to sayâ†µpotentially offensive things.) This is not a solution to theâ†µnational team’s problems at left back, left midfield, right midfield, orâ†µstriker. Or attacking midfielder. With Michael Bradley looking like aâ†µfixture going forward the USA has to figure out how to pair the two, orâ†µfigure out if someone can play somewhere else. â†µ

â†µâ†µThey won’t have to figure it out just yet, though: the regulationâ†µdoesn’t come into effect until late August. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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