An all star game for the beautiful game?
Pubcast listener elhaydo sent us this blog and, seeing as we rather liked the sentiment, we’ve whacked it on the site. Feel free to comment below…
Imagine taking something American and making it work in soccer….
Now imagine the idea of a 39th game actually being a good thing….
Now imagine the “which league is best?” question being answered….
OK, now, for the record, I punched myself in the face twice for calling it soccer. Two quick jabs should be enough these days to earn me a title shot against David Haye. But this blog isn’t here to mock Audley Harrison, after all, it’s not like he hurt anyone.
No my friends, this blog is here to tell you that if you take the evil, money loving, corruption magnets who run football and mix them with something so American that it’d piss stars and shit stripes then you might, just might get something worth paying for.
Now I have to clarify, we NEED a 39th game about as much as Cristiano Ronaldo needs a bit more self-confidence. We already have 38 league games, the FA Cup, the League Cup, Champions League, Europa League and the Community Shield at the start of the season. That’s ignoring the Championship, League One, League Two, Conference and Non-League Football.
BUT…
If that’s the way we’re going, if we’re going to chase the money, if we’re going to “grow the brand” (another two punches, this time in the stomach), then why not make it entertaining?
Instead of a 39th league game played in New York, or LA, Hong Kong or wherever, why not be up front and honest, it’s an exhibition, so let’s make it a spectacular one. The All Stars of the Premier League vs Galacticos of La Liga. Maybe throw the Bundesliga and Serie A in there for a four-way tournament?
Put simply, who would want to watch West Ham vs Bolton when they could see a mix of Real Madrid and Barcelona take on the best that English football has to offer? It really would be fantasy football. In America the All Star games in Baseball are the ultimate honour. Would they be taken that seriously in football? Of course not. But would they be incredible entertainment on a global stage? Would they be a great advert for the game? I can’t see how they could fail to be when you think about a frontline of Drogba, Rooney and Torres facing up against an attack of Messi, Ronaldo and Villa. A midfield of Xavi, Iniesta and Alonso up against Fabregas, Gerrard and Lampa….oh wait, that doesn’t ever work.
It had seemed like such a good idea as well…