A slew of high-profile former players weren't impressed by
Speaking at the SALT conference held in
The idea was put to Klopp after Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Ajax in the
“What can I say — does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well and let them play against a football team?” Klopp said.
Klopp’s main issue was that there was no space in an already crowded soccer calendar to fit such a game.
“When he finds a date for that, he can call me,” he said. “He forgets that in the big sports in America, these players have four-month breaks so they are quite happy they can do a little bit of sport in these breaks. It’s completely different in football.”
The MLB, NBA and NHL all hold an All-Star Game in the middle of their seasons. The NFL’s equivalent — the Pro Bowl — now takes place the Sunday before the
Boehly, who part-owns MLB team
Making himself chairman as well as interim sporting director, Boehly oversaw a record spending spree of
With many leading teams —
Just last year, these four teams, along with Manchester City and
The proposal collapsed within 48 hours when the English clubs withdrew amid an escalating backlash from their supporters and warnings from the British government that legislation could be introduced to thwart it.
Boehly’s idea is far less radical but would also change the status quo of English soccer’s traditional calendar which is already packed because of the presence of two domestic cup competitions to go along with the 20-team
“Hey Todd,” Lineker, a former
Former
“I just think how the American public would feel,” Carragher said, "if an
“To speak like that when you've been in the country for such a short time, and he hasn't even proved himself to be a good owner of
“This is
Klopp has been an outspoken critic about the demands being put on players because of the increasing number of club and national-team games throughout the year. This season, the World Cup is being held in the middle of an English league campaign for the first time.
Klopp also questioned whether “people want to see” combined teams from the north and south, essentially pitting rival clubs together.
“Imagine that — (
“So all the
Boehly also raised the possibility of “a tournament with the bottom four teams” — presumably referring to the
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