And so it begins....
Summer can be a boring time for anyone, especially soccer fans. Sure there are always international competitions we can look forward to, for example last months Euro Cup, but nothing can really compare to the club season, the best in the world playing for the best teams in the world.
There is pretty much one thing in life I am truly passionate about, soccer, perhaps its in my Italian blood, hence the name Calcio Queen :). This is my first of hopefully many blogs on everything I find interesting in the soccer world. Since I'm new at this whole thing it might take a while for me to figure out how to work it. (pictures will come soon, everyone loves pictures) This blog is the absolute first from the wise and beautiful Calcio Queen and they will get better, so no worries. Naturally, as a fan I have my teams that I love and hate all others. (I have to say I am and always have been a die hard Chelsea fan, through thick and thin. European Champions, congratulations to us!!! )I'm pretty biased, but who isn't with the teams they grew up supporting? I am very capable of being objective, which I will of course TRY to do, but I'm not making any promises. :) You'll still hear about news from all over the soccer world, but just with a lot of Chelsea love in between.The news you WANT to hear, without all of that bull along with it.
When it comes to summers, this one is actually pretty exciting, Euro 2012, the Olympics, the U-19 Championship, and the Copa Libertadores. I'll go more in depth into the Euro Cup and Olympics next time, but I want to dedicate this blog to my favorite part of the summer, transfers.
Rumors are always so exciting, and anytime you hear of a transfer it is almost always a rumor. I have heard some ridiculous ones so far this summer. Cristiano Ronaldo to Chelsea? Please, over my dead body. Sami Khedira to Bayern? Well, that one I would actually be all for, but its no use focusing on the rumors when there is so much going on in the transfer world this summer that is actually happening.
I of course cannot start my discussion on transfers without having a moment of silence, for a legend has been lost. I'll have a nice shot of vodka at kickoff of the first Chelsea match of the season for you Drogba. (Plus I live in the U.S. the game will be at like 10am that is dedication!) After a disastrous rumor of him possibly going to Barcelona he has officially stared in China for Shanghai Shenhua, alongside former Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka. Normally, one would probably think a move like this, at Drogba's age, 34, would mean a step towards retirement, ala Beckham's move to the LA Galaxy. However, Drogba has recently stated that is in fact not the case. He said he wanted to try something new, and it was also not about the money. Personally, if he wanted to try something new why couldn't he go somewhere people can actually watch him play? Like Serie A or the Bundesliga. If Europe was the problem he could have always come to the MLS. (I wouldn't mind running into him around town over here) But, he has left us all, and with a heavy heart I wish him good luck. I really hope the people in China appreciate what they got :(.
Another issue that I can't ignore is Paris St-Germain. Just the whole team is one huge issue to me that I honestly don't get. Last summer they were claiming they were going to buy all of these super stars, I'm of course not going to forget that they stole Javier Pastore right from under Chelsea's nose. It kind of seems they actually might do something this time around. Thiago Silva has just confirmed his transfer and back to the rumor mill again, it seems that Ibra may follow. With former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti as their fearless leader, newcomers like Silva and possibly Ibra, of course not to mention Alex, another Chelsea favorite of mine who has since left us, this could perhaps be the year that I actually pay attention to what's going on in France. I've never really followed Ligue 1, but this seems promising to me. Especially after seeing the national team somewhat get their act back together at the Euros. But this is of course all talk, will PSG deliver even with this influx of talent? We'll just have to wait and see.
I'll finish my transfer discussion ( for this time at least, everyone knows the good stuff happens at like 11:59 on the day the transfer window closes) with my personal favorite, the Premier League. At the beginning of the summer we had quite an interesting arrival in England. Lucas Podolski to Arsenal. Now that was very interesting to me, yeah it seems like a great idea, but I'll believe it will work out when I see it. We all remember his brief stint at Bayern Munich a few years ago. After his utterly amazing performance at the 2006 World Cup he pretty much failed to impress and shortly returned to FC Cologne. He's just one of those guys, when it comes to country he never fails to impress, but when it comes to his club performance...ehhh. Its like a reverse Messi. Podolski could potentially have some huge shoes to fill if Van Persie does end up leaving, though to me thats not an even trade. With Van Persie in the middle and Podolski playing of a more offensive midfield role the duo could be unstoppable. But, again, who knows what's going to happen there. Also, who knows what RVP is going to do, he still has a year left in his contract and I honestly think that at least for this season he's going to stay put. Hopefully, Podolski can prove me wrong and actually be a positive thing for Arsenal.
In a season full of big budget disappointments (and no I don't mean Fernando Torres, he scored when he needed to and got more trophies this season than pretty much everyone so boo to all the haters!!!) another rumor I came across was the Andy Carroll to West Ham loan idea. That could work for him, maybe. He has yet to impress anyone at Liverpool, and didn't really do much for me in the Euro Cup either. Yes he's a good player, and Newcastle wasn't that bad when he played for them, but Liverpool had their own problems before he got there. He just got sucked into that horrible train wreck of a few seasons that people can't look away from. Liverpool was always great on paper, Gerrard, Kuyt, Suarez, just to name a few, but for some reason they've just been slacking. Maybe Carroll needs a season at newly promoted West Ham to boost his confidence, come back to Liverpool and restore them to glory. I've also heard rumors of a loan to Spurs or AC Milan too, but honestly I think Carroll needs a team like West Ham to get back in form. With newly signed Borini and potentially Clint Dempsey (who to me, is the best player on the U.S. National Team and my hands down favorite) perhaps this could be the season that we see Liverpool on top again. We'll see how optimistic I am a few weeks into the season.
I'm not even going to address Carols Tevez to AC Milan, he should have gone to China, not Drogba, so I don't have to deal with his crap.
Of course we aren't only concerned with the movement of players, but managers as well. Was I shocked and a little offended when I found out that former Chelsea manager AVB was to replace Harry Redknapp at Spurs...no. (Umm yes I was) Did I care that of all of the teams to go to, he chose to lead our cross town rivals? (...no comment) I'm not one to hold grudges (yes I am, good luck with that AVB) but I'm VERY interested in what is going to happen at White Hart Lane this season, especially with all of this Modric, Van Der Vaart exit talk. They're way lucky Bale stayed on, he would have done well at Barcelona, but I digress.
There are so many more transfer rumors that I haven't talked about here, just some of the big names that came to my attention. Frankly, its way too overwhelming with things changing everyday. I'll just be happy once the season starts again and I can start writing about if these transfers are actually delivering. Next time I'm going to talk about Euro 2012, the upsets (obviously the Netherlands), surprises (Forza Italia!) winners, and everything in between. Until then, may your days be as beautiful as the game we love so much.
Ciao for now from your...
Calcio Queen
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