And Here We Go

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.