Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp laughs off Chelsea owner Todd Boehly's idea for a Premier League all-star match
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Published 14/09/2022 at 08:59 GMT
Chelsea's American owner wants to bring ideas from the USA into English football, saying a North v South Premier League all-star match would generate major income. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has laughed off the suggestion, saying top flight footballers have a lot less time available to take part compared to players in the NFL or NBA.
'Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters over as well?' Klopp on Boehly idea
Jurgen Klopp has laughed off Todd Boehly’s idea of a North v South Premier League all-star match.
Speaking at the SALT conference in New York, the Chelsea owner said an exhibition match could help English football and “fund whatever the pyramid needed very easily.”
Boehly suggested England’s top flight should learn “a little bit of a lesson from American sports” to earn more revenue.
Forever commenting on the tight fixture schedule, Klopp responded to Boehly’s idea by saying, “When he finds a date for that, he can call me.”
“He forgets that in the big sports in America, these players have four month breaks, so they’re quite happy that they can do a little bit of sport in these breaks. It’s completely different in football”, Klopp continued.
The Liverpool manager was taken aback by the concept and said, “I’m surprised by the question so don’t judge my answers too much. Maybe he can explain it to me at one point and find a proper date.”
Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well?
All-Star games are annual events in American sports including NFL and NBA, with the best players in the league teaming up to play against each other.
Once he processed Boehly’s idea, Klopp went on to say, “Not sure people want to see that but imagine that. United players, Liverpool players, Everton players all together in one team. Interesting game. And all the London guys together.”
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Having discussed the point with journalists at a news conference for several minutes, the reality of what he was talking about seemed to hit home for Klopp, and - although clearly amused by the suggestion - he was still left in disbelief, asking reporters, “Did he really say it? Interesting.”
During his speech in New York, Boehly also said he wants to see the four bottom teams compete in a tournament to determine who gets relegated at the end of the season.
The 48-year-old also shared his reasons for dismissing Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea manager - who was replaced by former Brighton boss Graham Potter.
Boehly said, “Tuchel is obviously extremely talented and someone who had great success with Chelsea.”
“Our vision for the club was to find a manager who really wanted to collaborate with us. The reality was that we weren’t sure that Thomas saw it the same way we saw it”, he continued.
Boehly thinks Tuchel was unwilling to work towards the same goals as the club’s new board, saying, “We just didn’t have a shared vision for the future. It wasn’t a decision that was made because of a single win or loss.”
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