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Eddie
"The American Eagle" Lewis believes he could be made available
for transfer during the summer
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Position
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Attacking midfielder
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| D.O.B. |
17/05/74
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| P.O.B. |
California, USA
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| Height |
5' 10
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| Weight |
11st 2
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| Started |
16
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| Sub |
10
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| Scored |
1
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Fulham's left-winger Eddie Lewis came to London
from America, but his time with Fulham hasn't turned out as he had hoped.
Though he celebrated Fulham winning the First Division crown and promotion
to the Premier League, Eddie Lewis faces an unsure future. Here he is being
interviewed by Scott French a senior editor at Soccer America.Com.
Q. What is your situation at Fulham these days?
I'm under contract as a foreign player, and hopefully in the summer, with
the team going up [from the First Division to the Premier Division] and
buying a bunch of new players, they'll try to balance the books and let
the players go who can go to new clubs. If I can do that, that's definitely
my top priority.
Q. Another First Division club?
Yeah, I think so. There are a few teams around who are aware of me and know
the situation. I'm sort of waiting on what Fulham's going to ask for me.
Assuming it won't be too much, I'll get something worked out.
Q. Fulham will have a new squad next year?
Half the starters on the team are thrilled we won the [First Division] championship,
but at the same time they're a little bit scared because [Manager Jean]
Tigana hasn't offered one player who's under contract a new contract. He's
made it pretty clear he wants to get into Europe.
There are a few players on the team who have been on teams promoted before
and haven't made it into the Premier League. I think by Christmas, most
of them either will be sitting on their contracts or trying to get to other
clubs. But that's normal. It's weird, a totally different ballgame over
there -- although I think over here it seems like kind of a strange situation,
it's very common over there.
Tigana didn't buy me -- the previous manager [Paul Bracewell] did -- and
he's under pressure to play some of the players he brought, regardless of
how well they're doing at the time. It's a pretty normal situation.
It's really the first time I've not been able through just hard work and
ability to break into the lineup. That was difficult to deal with. But at
same time, it was agood learning experience. I think, overall, I was still
very happy with the year, what I was able to gain from it.
Hopefully, next year I'll be somewhere that probably won't play as stylish
of soccer, but, hopefully, I'll get more games and as a result be a little
bit sharper and more comfortable. That will make lot of other people happy.
SEEING RESERVE GAME ACTION
Q. Are you getting a lot of reserve-team action?
Yeah. [Tigana is] pretty insistent that anyone who's not playing, subs on
down to other first-team players, play in reserve games.
One reason being he wants to get the reserve team into -- there's a Premier
League for reserve teams, as well, and one team goes up. There's like four
or five games left, and we need to win three or four of them to go up. By
no means is it making me a better player, but it's good to get 90 minutes
when you haven't for awhile.
Q. It seemed like you were scoring a lot of goals with the reserves
awhile back.
Yeah. It wasn't the highest standard in the world, but at the same time
I was trying to be as professional as I could, make the most of what was
there. Hopefully, that would translate into possibly more playing time.
But it didn't really seem to have too much of an effect. Fair enough.
Q. How much of that was stylistic? Tigana came in and changed the style
of the team.
We play with four sort of central midfielders, but in the end it's still
11 against 11. ... I mean, I started the first game, and most of the players
were there, but then I left for two weeks with [the national team] and he
wasn't very happy about that. When I came back, [Fulham] had won the previous
game, and I was on the bench. And I think it was a week later [when] I got
my spot back, and then directly after that game, I left again.
It just seemed to be like I fell a little further and further away from
the team. He never really held that against me -- he wasn't standing in
my way from going, but at the same time, I wasn't in a position where I
could just come back and pick up right where I left.
That's something that hinders a lot of players overseas. It even was a massive
problem for Dwight Yorke, and he's a top, top player. It's just a situation
you have to deal with, but I would never use it as an excuse.
I didn't play much this year for a number of reasons, most I can't really
explain, but I'm not the first person it's happened to, and I won't be the
last. At the same time, I'll only do it for a year. I've been a good professional,
and I think Tigana respects that and will feel comfortable about me going
someplace to help my career.
THE TIGANA EXPERIENCE
Q. Using hindsight, any regrets at all about coming to Fulham?
No chance. All my life, I've wanted to know what it was like at the top,
and in so many ways I lucked out so much this year. We were given a manager
who by no means deserves to be coaching in the First Division of England.
He's one of the most sought-after coaches in Europe, probably one of highest-paid
coaches in Europe, and it won't be long before he's in charge of a Champions
League team. To have that experience and see how he ran a club -- he was
for me one of the best coaches, one of best systems of coaches, that I'll
maybe ever see.
It's very clear where Fulham is going, and just a matter of time before
they get there. In a lot of ways, I feel I was just lucky to be part of
something that was really taken to a completely different level. You sort
of see how detailed and professional and organized it really becomes, you
know?
From a playing sense, there were disappointment, but the way I've grown
as a player -- from the way I see the game, the way I see how the game is
run -- I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Q. What Fulham has done might be the best story in English soccer this
year.
I think so. He didn't have a lot of open arms coming in; they were disappointed
about hiring a foreign coach -- "What do foreigners know about the English
game"; it's the same story over and over -- and right from the get-go, he
demanded the ultimate level of professionalism, he would never back down
to any challenge or pressure, whether from the media or whomever.
There was a big problem with him never speaking to the media, and he said
right from the beginning, "I'm here to win games, and if the chairman has
a problem with me not speaking to the media, I'll leave." That was the end
of it.
Q. He never speaks to the media?
Never. We have couple players who do most of that. He goes about it his
way, but he wins. He always has, and he probably always will.
Q. Fulham owner Mohamed Al-Fayed has put so much money into the club.
What is the club like?
It's weird. It's changing so rapidly. It's really an old, old club, a very
poor club before Al-Fayed took over, and our stadium is probably one of
the worst in the First Division. They just got plans approved to finally
build a new one.
Parts of the training ground are very, very old, and certain things seem
barbaric, but at the same time, everything is under construction. Plans
for some of the things they're doing are just outrageous, and at the same
time we're given pretty much every tool needed to help improve your game,
whether it's training equipment or new gym equipment or anything else. You
can see once that's all in place, it's going to be quite a club.
BITTERSWEET TITLE WIN
Q. Given your personal situation, was it difficult to enjoy winning
a championship?
Yeah, definitely. That's been an odd feeling. I've never had so much success
with a team but felt not so part of it. It's a detached sort of enjoyment.
It was weird. I was happy and part of the team, but at the same time, I
wasn't.
Q. Is the atmosphere in England everything you hoped for?
It's probably the reason I'll always want to stay. Every single game, it's
so loud and so passionate. Although I'd never say the First Division is
the most beautiful league in the world, it's a fun league to play in. It's
very competitive, very fast and sort of end-to-end. The crowds are right
on top of you, just feet from the field, and it's thrilling. By far, that's
one of the best parts about being there.
Q. Do the fans treat you well?
Yeah, surprisingly, very well. I was very concerned last year when I first
went over there -- "the American" -- but they're very aware of what's happening
in the game, and in America, and how the game's progressing here. ... They
were all very friendly people.
Q. And London's a great city.
That's one of the downsides to maybe moving clubs. I think I started at
the best place there is. Southwest London is about as good as it gets. I
know my wife won't be too happy if we move. ... I thoroughly enjoy where
I live, and I was not happy that possibly two London clubs [Crystal Palace
and Queens Park Rangers] are being relegated this year from the First Division.
I'd like to stay in London, that's for sure.
MIDLANDS CALLING?
Q. I'd think the last thing you'd want is to end up in some old coal-mining
town in the Midlands.
I know. I wake up in cold sweats that I'll be stuck up in Burnley next year.
Q. Have you got any thoughts about returning to MLS, not necessarily
now but at some point in the future?
I haven't really thought about it. I thought MLS was good and it's arguably
in some ways a better league than the English First Division, in all honesty.
I think it's good for young players to get games at an early age, and, gosh,
I'm sure it's just getting better every year. But I really like it in England.
I know the work-permit situation sometimes is a little tricky, and I don't
know how long I'll be able to stay -- I know three years for sure -- but
I'd like to stay in Europe as long as I could.
There might be a time I come back to play in MLS, but if I did end my career
in Europe, I think I'd be very happy with that. Not really because of MLS,
or anything about the playing in MLS -- that's very, very good. But the
atmosphere and the things around the game in Europe make it so much more
exhilarating.
You feel, I guess, more appreciated in a lot of ways. [The game] is just
so much more important [in Europe]. I don't think in my career, that will
be ready in America. I think it will be here, but probably not while I'm
playing.
Q. Do you have a sense of the timeline when you would change clubs,
if all goes as you would hope?
It would be over the summer. Probably in June sometime. They'll never get
it worked out until the end, probably a couple weeks before preseason. That's
fine. It really comes down to Fulham.
If I move, I'll have to reapply for a work permit, and I'm still fine with
that, but everything's kind of contingent on how well that goes. There's
a few little hiccups, but I intend to get it worked out.
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