The way Frank Lampard sees it, there's plenty to like about Coventry City, especially for fans in the U.S.
Americans love an underdog, and Coventry will be that this season, trying to hang in the Premier League after securing promotion by winning the Championship last year.
There might be a special link for Premier League independents from Detroit. The American Motor City has been paired up with Coventry as part of the league's Coast to Coast initiative because of the West Midlands city's own history with the automotive industry, one that parallels the Detroit story. USL club Detroit City will host a watch party at its HQ for Coventry's first Premier League match since 2001, Friday, Aug. 21's opener against Arsenal at the Emirates.
The 48-year-old
ex-midfielder hopes to give fans another reason to buy in on Coventry fandom, though. He wants it to be fun to watch his team.
"The motor industry connection is a great one, but my job is hopefully to put out a team that all the American fans out there watching Coventry may look at us and kind of go, 'That's interesting. They've got something about them on and off the pitch,'" Lampard told USA TODAY Sports. "I think history and tradition is always a great thing in that sense that you can see this as a club that was always a top-tier team.
"Twenty-five years out of the Premier League, had our struggles down the divisions, out of our stadium, and now we're coming up with a real excitement and feeling around the city."
The team also has a player Americans can cheer for both with club and country, though that will have to wait until Hadji Wright recovers from a quad injury that could keep him out of action for up to three months.
Wright was Coventry's leading scorer last season, displaying his skill with his left foot, his right foot and his head on the way to 17 goals — with just two from the penalty spot.
Lampard hopes that when he has overcome the muscle issue that has him sidelined for the start of the year that he will come back with a renewed fire, one that will contrast with the Southern California native's personality when he isn't between the white lines.
“Hadji's been very good to work with for me. He's a very quiet kind of laid-back character, which I like off the pitch," Lampard said. "Actually, one of my things to speak with Hadji is to make sure he doesn't take that character into game. I think Hadji has so many great attributes and talents that especially with a step up that we've got coming to the level of defending in the Premier League, is to use all those attributes to the maximum."
While the manager wants to see an aggressive Wright once he gets on the field, he feels the 28-year-old has the tools needed to excel in the top league in the world after helping the Sky Blues get to the top flight.
He showed it last season with a hat trick against Middlesborough, delivering in a high-stakes contest in February against a fellow promotion candidate.
“He scored a hat trick in a really big game for us last year, and he had everything in terms of his physicality and the pure talent," Lampard said. "So, I think it’s maximizing that for Haji this season. He’s shown in the Championship that he's one of the best strikers in the league. All of the players have to now up those levels because the challenge is getting much bigger.
“But Hadji's very good to work with, and I think this is a great opportunity, at his age to show that he can do it in the in the best league. He’s a big part of our squad.”
He also is the most obvious reason a curious Premier League fan in the U.S. might choose to support Coventry, even as Lampard pushes his team to play in a way that could draw in previous neutrals to become supporters of a Premier League upstart.
The former midfielder recalled U.S. tours with Chelsea as the Premier League was starting to develop its global footprint, noting that at the time there weren't that many fans of the mega-club Blues, much less the Sky Blues.
"The Premier League was growing as a brand, and we used to go to preseason in America and have some interest, and then within five or so plus years, the stadiums are packed out through these activations and through the link up," he said. "We're in new territory, where I know from living in New York for a couple of years and enjoying traveling to America a lot that the Premier League is of huge interest now over there. It's a busy market of teams. We're coming in with our our thing."
Those years living in New York were the two he spent closing out his playing career with New York City FC. A native of Essex who started his career at West Ham, then moved to Chelsea, another London club, Lampard said the move to the States was an experience that helped him better understand the sporting landscape both in England and abroad.
His focus is on staying in the Premier League with Coventry, emulating clubs like Sunderland and Leeds United, which were promoted and comfortably stayed in the top flight, with Sunderland even earning a European place.
Do that, and he's convinced Coventry City will see plenty of fans tuning in — on both sides of the Atlantic.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Which Premier League team should I pick? Frank Lampard makes Coventry City pitch
