YatSoccer!

It's a very telling tale that Landon Donovan's loan from the LA Galaxy of MLS to Everton in the English Premier League is big news in the US and a yawner in the UK:

News that Los Angeles Galaxy forward and U.S. captain Landon Donovan would join Everton on a 2 1/2-month loan was generally relegated to the "in-brief" sections of English sports pages. In a nation which devotes acres of newsprint to soccer, it barely registered, even as the media is full of potential comings and goings in the January transfer window, one of two periods in the year when clubs are allowed to acquire players

(more after the jump)

Of course it "barely registered."  As of this writing (18 of 39 games played in the EPL), Everton are 15th in the table (out of 20).  Mid-season acquisitions by bottom-tier teams in Major League Baseball or the NFL don't make national headlines, either. 

The WSJ's Marcotti makes some interesting observations about other Americans in the EPL:

In fact though, Mr. Donovan's tale neatly summarizes the way many American players are perceived in the Old World. It is not that there is an automatic bias against U.S. players. After all, three Premier League teams boast American starting goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Brad Friedel at Aston Villa and Tim Howard at Everton (And Mr. Friedel and Mr. Howard are considered among the best in English soccer today). Another U.S. player, Clint Dempsey, plays an important role for Fulham, an overachieving mid-table club. And, in years past, the likes of Brian McBride, Claudio Reyna and Kasey Keller all made an impact in the Premier League.

There's no automatic bias against players from any country in the EPL, just a lack of interest when the players aren't superstars playing for top-tier teams.  Marcus Hahnemann's Wolves are 12th in the table (although Marcus did have a clean sheet today against Burnley).  Keller's biggest accomplishment in the EPL was to keep Fulham from being relegated two seasons ago.  (The current Fulham side, with Dempsey, is 9th in the table.)  Friedel and Villa may well make it to Europe next season (they' re currently 4th), possibly even the Champions League, if they keep up their winning ways. 

But Brad Friedel is nearing the end of his career in the top tier; he no longer plays for USMNT.  Our current national side has a number of players making contributions in Europe, but often in losing efforts to mediocre teams.  From the perspective of the USMNT, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you believe in the theory that losing teaches you more than winning. 

When we see a Landon Donovan or Tim Howard go from Everton to Arsenal or Chelsea, that will be news in England.