After a long summer break I’m finally back writing my
thoughts on this crazy game American’s call soccer. More importantly though, the season has
started again as well. First off
however, let’s do a quick recap of everything (major) that happened since I last
posted.
That last post I wrote in May left everything hanging from
the Champions League final. Well Chelsea
did up winning over my much hated Bayern Munich. After that semi-official end to the league
season, it was then time for the European Championships. I was actually on vacation in Ireland for
most of the Euros, but sadly Ireland was really out of contention by even the
second match of the group stage. My favorite
that had a more realistic chance of winning the tournament though was
Germany. I apparently was not
having the best luck of teams however as
they were eventually beaten in the semi-finals by Italy, who would end as runners-up
in the end. Although I had a great time
watching the matches in the pub as I traveled around Ireland, I didn’t bother
watching the final between Spain and Italy.
I figured Spain would win easily.
My prediction was confirmed as I walked around the streets of Galway,
with many Spaniards (mostly university students it seemed) dancing and singing
praises of their teams victory.
Besides transfers (which I may or may not cover at some
point), I think that is a simple overview leading up to the start of this new
season. Sure, the Olympics soccer
tournament was in there, but I didn’t follow it at all (who won?). It’s such an odd tournament anyway with its
age restrictions, not to mention how this year all of Great Britain was on one
team.
As far as the 2012-2013 club season is concerned, I have
catching up to do. I really wasn’t
prepared for the season to start and really am just not fully ramped up for it
though. However, the fixtures keep
happening so I need to start planning my weekends (and sometimes weekdays) for
the matches.
To get caught up, let’s start with my English sides. The lads in the big time Premier League up in
Newcastle have had a mixed bag so far.
The opened the season with a 2-1 win over Tottenham but then a week
later took a 2-0 defeat from Chelsea. I
suppose after playing those two sides though, have one loss and one win is not
doing shabby at all. In between those
two league matches, the Magpies also played a Europa League qualifying match
away against Greek side Atromitos, coming out with a 1-1 draw. Luckily, they earned an away goal, but they’ll
be looking for more than that as they play the second leg tomorrow at St. James
Park.
Moving down a few leagues, Oxford United have been doing a
smashing job in League Two. They’ve
played three matches and won all three!
That along with their +5 goal differential has them sitting top in the
league, just above Gillingham (the only other team with three wins in as many
matches). Sure the Yellows are only
three matches into a forty-six game season, but still it’s a good positive
spark to the beginnings of the season.
To bring things down to earth a bit though, they are out of the Capital
One Cup (a knockout tourney of the top four English leagues). They won their first match in the cup
dramatically in a penalty shootout against League One side Bournemouth. Luck wasn’t with Oxford though for the second
round draw, putting them up against Championship League side Leeds. It’s not really surprising that they lost
3-0, as I said falling out of the tournament.
Still… three league wins in a row!
Lastly, we come to my team in Germany’s Bundesliga, FC
Nurnberg. Der Club began their league
campaign last weekend, starting off with a 1-0 win against Hamburg. Bigger, and really more disappointing news
though is from the DFB Pokal. After
playing the first round (which occurred a week before the regular season
opened), Nurnberg is already out. They
should have had an easy time against TSV Havelse, a team that plays in the
fourth division of German football.
However, the little side from near Hannover (I had to do some research
to find out where they were from), beat my Nurnberg side 3-2. I’m going to take this as a blessing in
disguise however. As so often is the
case, Der Club will probably be fighting against relegation again this
year. Having to focus on only the league
will be a great asset. Would they (and
I) have rather not go out in a first round Pokal match to a really low division
side? You bet. But would they (and I) rather stay in the top
flight of the Bundesliga at the end of the season? That’s an even more resounding ‘you bet.’
At this point, all the teams are in it for the long
haul. Newcastle hopes to build on their
success from last year and hope to qualify for the Champions League, if not
even vie for league champions. Oxford
United will of course be trying to be promoted from League Two to League One,
with a bright start on that already.
Then there’s my underdogs Nurnberg again, always trying to improve but
also with a wary eye on the relegation zone.
Anything can happen though, so right now I’m just looking towards each
club’s next match.
