So after a weekend of interesting tactical battles, the surprise exit of the Dutch *weep*, and the absolute inability of World Champions Italy to put one meaningful ball into the box, Europe has once again settled down to enjoy a well-needed two day break before the semi-finals begin in earnest. Two penalty shoot outs have occurred; David Villa seems a shoe-in for the Golden Boot (giggle) and there have been plenty of injuries, so much so that the Turks may have to field a third choice goalkeeper up front so says coach Faith Terim – but enough of this for now.

Today, we’ve decided to take a change of tack on our old ‘blog of the day’ – and feature a blog pretty much solely concerned with one of the big 4. Chelsea fans, this is for you! Disappointed with his team’s lads thus far in the tournament, only Ballack well…. I’ll let ‘Living True Blue’ take up the questions now. Oh, and make sure to check out his site, of which particular interest is the Chelsea Euro round up…

1.)Euro 2008 will be won by whom?
A.) Netherlands deserve to win it this time (Ed – these questions were answered pre Quarter Finals – sorry pal). They have all the right ingredients to win and only bad luck can cause their downfall in the knock-out stage. They have only conceded 2 goals in the qualifiers and just 1 goal in the group stage of the finals. They are playing the best football in the competition, using the width of the pitch and space while attacking and effectively reducing the space while the opponents have the ball. The Spaniards are playing well, but their defense is yet to be tested and I feel their defense is vulnerable. The best team doesn’t always win. That’s another way of saying the Italians still have (Ed had anyway) a chance.

2.) Which Chelsea player has impressed you most thus far during the tournament?
None so far. Ballack was good in the first and third game but was clueless against the Croats. He showed what material he is made of when he fired an excellent free-kick against Austria to take the Germans into the quarter-finals. Carvalho was solid and his team-mates Ferreira and Bosingwa had decent games, but did nothing spectacular. Makelele added to the lack of creativity in the French midfield and didn’t look to be in the greatest of form. Cech was good in the first two matches but made a big blunder against the Turks which cost them the quarterfinal berth. Clearly, Cech is not in his best form and some rest would do a world of good to him. Anelka and Malouda are not even worth mentioning.

3.) And have you spotted any players you hope Big Phil will be plucking out of obscurity for Stamford Bridge next season?
I don’t see someone obscure coming to the Bridge at all. With Big Phil having to choose from the likes of Deco and Ronnie who have worked under him before, chances are less that we might see some obscure face. I don’t want someone like Lampard or Drogba to leave The Bridge, but I feel those that come will certainly depend on who goes.

4.) Tom thinks that Ronaldo is the best thing since the dawn of footballing history. But is Carvalho more instrumental in providing the rock of the team.
Maybe Tom considers the dawn of football to be in the year 2000 (Ed Tom is indeed delusional). Ronaldo is the best thing that happened to United because he almost single-handedly won trophies for them this year, but he is nowhere near the ‘best thing since the dawn of footballing history’. He’s good against the Bolton’s and West Hams’ of the Premier League, but not as good against teams with better defenses. As for Portugal, Carvalho certainly is the rock in the defense ably assisted by Pepe, while Ronaldo creates the spark upfront. From a Portuguese point of view, both are equally needed for them to proceed further.

5.) Why should http://livingtrueblue.blogspot.com/ be at the top of every true blue’s blogroll?
‘Living True Blue’ should be on every true blue’s blogroll (not necessarily on top, I’ve seen better Chelsea blogs) because it brings all the latest Chelsea news, transfer talk, match previews and reviews as well as articles about football in general at times. So all the Blue fans who haven’t visited the place yet, take a look. Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

You heard the man – get over to Living True Blue and indulge! Congrats once again on being our blog of the day sir!