Speculation: Mysteries of the Off Season

The theme of any off season for major clubs around the world can be summed up in one word: speculation.  After every player gets as far away from soccer as they possibly can (following either the end to their club seasons or their exit from the world cup) entertainment and excitement is few and far between. For the big clubs there's often a trip to a developing soccer nation in the hopes of increasing brand awareness and jersey sales. Their will be friendlies mainly consisting of the reserve squad sprinkled with a few stars. Last but not least, Jack Wilshere will smoke a cigarette and everyone loses their minds. As exiting as this all sounds there's one thing that has everyone stuck in a cubicle refreshing there browsers as often as possible. The transfer window is here in all it's inflated extravagant glory.

A high profile team will typically play 5,000 minutes of competitive soccer if they're playing against Europe's finest and advancing through Cup play. While this seems like a considerable amount it only means that watching our favorite team play only takes up less than 1% of our lives, and that's if we're fortunate enough to watch every game. While the 99% is a huge void to be filled we do our best to make the time between matches shorter by doing what we do best, debating and speculating.

The States have been in a frenzy the past few weeks trying to decipher where Lebron will land. But while this was happening Europe has been coping with the end of a fabulous World Cup by shifting their attention to headlines such as Yaya Toure's bipolar disorder, or just how high James Rodriguez's price-tag can go, or the fact that Barcelona have purchased the most expensive cannibal in the world. Sami Khedira was in the middle of a photo shoot in one Arsenal's new Puma kits when his agent backed out and Khedira covered for him by saying that talks were never held. Oddly enough no part of that last sentence was true. But then again neither are half the stories on the web at this point. 

As much as the next person I'm completely immersed in all the rumors circling around this time of year. But as much as I love the developing story that while on vacation Arturo Vidal's housekeeper told the waitress, who told the bartender who reviled in an interview that Vidal is 100% sure that he doesn't know where he'll be playing next season, I can't wait for it to end. While I'm sure there's considerable business that has yet to be done, the transfer window will be closed soon enough. Then we can all go on to speculate about more important matters, such as who is the biggest title contender after they've played three games.

--PK


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