Preview: The final word on the Holland-England friendly which happened in midweek will be on tomorrow as part of the unofficial weekend football focus series. But for now, as yours truly turns a year older today, this entry is about what she hopes to see in the new Premier League season. Not only that for the very first time, how did she managed to come to type about football (or soccer for some) on a regular basis on her blog.
The general school of thought is what do females know about football. We are being categorised as a bunch who only look at handsome footballers. That for me, is not the main reason why I watch football. It is a bonus if a footballer is handsome but, I put talent and skill above everything else when it comes to footballers. All these talk about football all started with my own father.
In footballing terms, I can say that I am the daughter of a football-fan father. I grew up listening to him talking about the beautiful game. And the club he support in Manchester United. But football only really came into my life when I was in my early teenage years. Then came the 2006 World Cup. Looking back, that tournament helped to spark off me typing about football since. How long will it take me, I have no idea at the moment. But even though I know I am not the best football blogger around, I am just trying to live up to my blog sub-title: The ramblings of a young lady who sees the world, football (soccer) related or not, and her own life...through her eyes, and her pair of spectacles as well....In short, a female's perspective on just about everything. Even if it may be biased.
Blogging about probably the world's most popular sport can be a little draining on me at times. Yes. I do have my teams which I support in both the leagues I watch in the Premier League and the Bundesliga but, I always try to be neutral and 'cover' any piece of news concerning anything outside the club I support. Then there is also the case of those international matches. In a way ahead of the action on Wednesday, there was a part of me wondering how since like nearly two months ago will the decision of stopping to support the German national team altogether and just continue with the England national team change the dynamics. As in, will my decision from almost two months ago backfire. In the end, I read that the German national team were made to work for their win in Azerbaijan for their World Cup qualifier and England managed a second-half fight-back away in Holland in their friendly.
After me going through almost endless stream of Premier League-relating articles just ahead of the new season, the estimation that it will be another same-old season is probably not that true for me. There are questions waiting to be answered.
Will reigning league champions Manchester United be able to cope without Cristiano Ronaldo, will they be able to win four titles in a row as this has never happened to other club in the league before. With Manchester United now on level footing with Liverpool in regarding to the number of league titles won (18, that is), will Liverpool be able to stem their dominance once again like how it once was, especially all the more with whether Rafael Benitez's side be able to cope without Xabi Alonso among them. Will Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger be the one come out laughing at his critics at the end of the day with his spending policy? At Chelsea, the spotlight will be on whether new manager Carlo Ancelotti be able to make a difference in his debut season in English football. But then since he is able to handle pressures from Silvio Berlusconi during his time at AC Milan, it should be alright now at the Chelsea with Roman Abramovich...eh?
Away from the big guns, there could be one club threatening to upset the order in...Manchester City. They had been the talk of the Premier League in the off-season with their spending power on the transfer market. Just about everyone in the league has something to say about City and their chances ahead of the new season. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson might had dismissed City's ambitions, but Ferguson's other colleagues in the league are saying that City could shake up the Premier League as a whole. One thing is clear from this Manchester United supporter: The Manchester derby is going to be rather interesting. I am curious to see how things are shaping up at the blue-half of Manchester. Those strikers they have at Manchester City, how will things work out?
But how about those clubs which had a good season in the previous Premier League season? I am referring to the likes of Everton, Aston Villa, Fulham. Surely Manchester City's spending powers is putting clubs like Everton and Aston Villa on their guard considering the two clubs managed to work their way round the league in the previous season while City is still trying to stir a 'revolution'. Even with Villa in American hands, the spine of the club is English. Fulham went from preserving their league status to being in Europe.
Wigan has a new manager in Roberto Martinez after Steve Bruce left for Sunderland. Martinez was well-liked during his time at the club as a player and his time at Swansea as manager has people saying that his former club do play good football. Will the Spainard be able to transport that to the club where his British footballing career began?
Then there is the case of the three newly-promoted clubs in Burnley (back in the big time after 33 years), Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Stoke City had showed in the previous season after their promotion that home support do play a role, while Hull City in the previous season went from dizzying heights in the first-half of the previous season to manage to preserve their league status on the final day. So it is up to Burnley, Birmingham and Wolverhampton to see whether they can be in the mix as well because life in the top-flight can be that tough and unforgiving too.
And speaking of tough and unforgiving...one club which is making me worry about their status this upcoming Premier League season is Portsmouth. The takeover is not fully completed yet. Of a sudden the FA Cup win when Harry Redknapp was still there is like ages ago. Speaking of Harry Redknapp, Tottenham Hotspur were almost certain to be relegation contenders until he arrived. So it will be interesting to see how things go at White Hart Lane.
This season in the Premier League will also test where it stands when it comes to European competition especially in the Champions League. The momentum could be starting to swing into Spain's favour after Barcelona's win in the Champions League in May. So how will the Premier League representatives do in the Champions League? But then the representatives in the Europa League will also have to be mentioned too.
This is also the first real season where the current economic downturn is testing the Premier League. Will the league emerge better or gasp, for the worse? While football is the reason why people look forward to in the weekends after whatever they are doing in the weekdays, not all can afford to watch their favourite teams in action.
Whatever I had raised, maybe not all will be answered at the end of the season. But I still hope to get some answers by then. It cannot be that bad, eh?
