How I would do Todd Boehly’s All-Star Game.
It was bound to happen eventually and with Americans getting even more involved in the sport, it has arrived much sooner than it would have. A football All-Star game.
First off, I would say that this would not work as a Premier League, North vs South Game. Imagine trying to convince a Manchester United fan to buy a ticket to come and watch Mo Salah and Haaland score goals and then be expected to support that team. Would never happen. Rivalries in the Premier League are 100 times more extreme than in the NBA. This is obviously true as you could fit just under 3 UKs into the state of Texas. Rivalries are more intense in the UK because all the teams are close together. This season there 7 teams from London and 4 teams in the northwest. More than half of the league is from 2 areas. Rivalry is bound to be a much bigger factor in the EPL.
So, what is the best way to do this? Well if you really want to attract the most amount of fans, don’t make it about north vs south or any areas against each other. Instead, it should be a celebration of football’s greatest.
1. Selection
I think to really make it interesting it should not just be the Premier League but instead all of Europe’s top 5 leagues:
- Premier League
- Bundesliga
- Ligue 1
- La Liga
- Serie A
Now for 2 teams of 18 players (11 starters and 7 bench players), you would need, 4 goalkeepers, 12 defenders, 10 midfielders, and 10 attackers.
Fans would vote for one player from each league. The top 6 players from each league, within the limits (e.g. if Ederson, Alisson, Donnarumma, Neuer, and Courtois all were in their leagues' top 6 then the one with the least amount of votes would miss out) would go through. The remaining 6 players would be the coach's choice (coaches would also be voted for, the top 2 winning) this allows for voting bias from fans to be canceled out slightly. Players from teams like Ajax, Benfica, Porto, and Celtic can be picked by the coaches in their 6 ‘wild card’ picks.
There would be a 3 player per team max to avoid 6 City players coming through from the EPL.
This would create a 36-man player pool. The 22 top players (2 keepers, 8 defenders, 6 midfielders, and 6 attackers) would be drafted first by the managers. Then the remaining 14 bench players would be picked to complete the squads.
If there is an injury then the next highest-voted player from the same league and position would come into the squad.
2. The All-Star weekend.
The All-Star weekend has created some incredible moments in NBA history outside of the All-Star game itself, Vince Carter’s dunk contest, Luka’s long 3 in the Rising Stars game, J Cole catching a Kevin Hart Lob, and many more.
The Premier League could incorporate so many similar games/challenges:
- Rising Stars game
- Women’s game
- Celebrity game
- Legends 5 a side
- Skills Challenge
- Free kick contest
- Recreating famous moments e.g. Ronaldo's bicycle kick
Over 3 days you could find time to do most of these.
I think the weekend should take place at the ground of the holders of the Champions League but it could just cycle through all the legendary grounds in Europe.
3. The All-Star game
The game should have rolling subs so that players can come off and on whenever they need to, this can reduce injury risk. Players should play for at least 30 minutes so that fans get to see their favorite players.
Kits should be red vs blue. Players wear a red or blue kit from their team's history depending on their team. If they don’t have a red/blue one then one of their current kits can be colored.
Timeouts could be added to slow the game down and allow players to get the maximum amount of rest time.
I think the All-Star game should happen sooner rather than later otherwise we may miss out on Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar, KDB, Lewa, and other legends all playing together on the same pitch.
