Hard Knocks It Is Not

We are now three episodes into "Being: Liverpool", and it's pretty obvious that it's not going to be the HBO-Hard Knocks we were all hoping for. After all, this isn't HBO. FSC isn't going to be all that concerned with being edgy or on the forefront of good television. This is their first foray into this sort of thing, and merely trying it was the obvious plan.

And while it hasn't descended completely into the puff piece about the club that it looked like it might, it's certainly enough in that pool to get wet. It's more expository that revelatory, made to built the American brand by letting us into the club and its background. There's a lot of filling in the story here that we all know to begin with but others might not. There's also an aversion to controversy that is a little disappointing.

Whereas Hard Knocks this past summer let us in on the actual conversation between Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin and Chad Johnson when he was being released, and many others like it, we haven't seen a hint of discord between Andy Carroll and Brendan Rodgers. There's been barely one line mentioned about it by Clive Owen. If this were HBO, we would have seen at least one exchange between Carroll and Rodgers. And it's not like this was something that popped up on them, such as spending time with Jay Spearing's family and now knowing he's loaned out. Rodgers looked to move Carroll out shortly after he was hired and well before Andy showed up to training. This was something that could easily have been followed.

I think we all would have liked to have seen more of the nuts and bolts of training. So far we've only been treated to a couple speeches where Rodgers bemoans the effort level somewhat. There's no mention of the inner workings of what Rodgers is trying to employ and how he installs that in training. But again, this seems to be aimed at a much more general audience than we are.

And what's with all the time with John Flanagan? Just feels like they've decided to spend time with one young player's attempts to break through no matter how backwards it's going. But this is what happens when you cover a moving target such as a football club heading into a season.

That doesn't mean it's all bad. The stuff with Lucas and his first match at Anfield was oddly gripping. Spending a good amount of time with George Stephton was wonderful, because he's always the voice we hear but never see. But he's a vital part of the Anfield experience. If you've been there and heard him spin records before a match, you know. Although I find the segments with the Liverpool historian and the lengths he's gone to to catch Liverpool abroad somewhat unhinged. The waiting on Swansea for Joe Allen's transfer made for good stuff. But I think I've seen enough medicals for one season.

Maybe it'll pick up when they get to deadline day, and I'll keep watching. Oh, and it's good to know that Fabio Borini has a specific goal celebration, just in case we never see it again.