Jurgen Klopp has slammed Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly for his plans for a Premier League All-Star game
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly had suggested a Premier League clash of North vs South like the American all-star games, during the SALT conference (h/t The Sun).
People are talking about why don’t we have more money for the Pyramid? MLB did their All-Star game this year. They made $200m from a Monday and a Tuesday. You could do a North vs South All-Star game from the Premier League to fund the Pyramid very easily.
The NBA has long hosted an annual match between the East and West conferences of the United States. Boehly, who also co-owns baseball side the LA Dodgers said that MLB’s latest all-star game generated over £170 million.
But Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp is not a big fan of this idea. In fact, he has slammed the American owner for such a suggestion mainly due to the lack of breaks that Premier League footballers get.
He forgets that in the big sports in America these players have four month breaks. They’re quite happy they can do a little bit of sports in these breaks, it’s completely different to football. I’m not sure people want to see that. United, Liverpool, City, Everton players all together. It’s not the national team. Did he really say it?
And Klopp is not wrong in his assessment. The league runs for almost over ten months and includes various cup and European competitions. On top of that, players also have to go for international duty in between.
It is only between June and July that the players can catch a break. It doesn’t even last the full two months given that the pre-season preparations usually begin by mid-July. To make the players play after a long and enduring season, to earn some money would only be cruel.
Even if such a competition is to go ahead, it begs the question of who will select the team and who will be its manager. Fans will never be able to agree to a team that is decided because most of them would want their side to have the most number of players.
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The Super League also wanted a similar competition with only the richest and best clubs playing each other. We all know how long that idea lasted. It will be wise for Boehly to not pursue this or he could face the wrath of the fans.