Jamie Carragher has labelled comments made by Chelsea owner Todd Boehly regarding the possibility of an American-style All-Star game gracing the Premier League as 'arrogant'.
During a conference in New York, Boehly, who led a consortium bid worth £4.25 billion in May to take the reins at Stamford Bridge, expressed the idea of a 'North vs South' match in a bid to increase broadcast revenue for the English top-flight. Expanding on this proposal, the Londoners' co-owner claimed the Premier League could 'take a lesson' from American sports.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was among the first to shoot down this idea, which has become commonplace in the States, when speaking after Tuesday's Champions League win over Ajax. “He doesn’t wait long. When he finds a date for that he can call me," said the German. "In American sports these players have four-month breaks. Does he want to bring the Harlem Globetrotters as well? Maybe he can explain that. I’m not sure people want to see that – United players, Liverpool players, City players, Everton players all together. It is not the national team. Did he really say it?”
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Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, who is no stranger to the prospect of All-Star occasions having ended his career in the MLS, has joined Jamie Carragher in echoing the words of Klopp. Reacting to Boehly's remarks on CBS, the Frenchman said: "A lesson? What's that supposed to mean? Are you teaching us something? I don't like them [Boehly's comments] because this is Europe and it doesn't work like that. Teams go up and down and an All-Star game, for what?"
Offering his view, Carragher continued: "I'll be honest with you, when I look at that statement, I think it is incredibly arrogant to speak about a league you don't know. I'm not as strong as Thierry, in that I don't think we should ever discount ideas - of course we shouldn't. The Premier League is international, with owners, managers and players, and that's what makes it the best.
"I don't like those ideas. And to come and speak like that when he has not even proven he can run a Premier League club well yet; he has sacked a manager after three games, having spent £250million. Straight away you're thinking, 'that's not right'.
"He has not made a great start and to speak like that, when you've been somewhere for six weeks and talking about 'We're going to bring what we do in other American sport'. I just think how the American public would feel if an English Premier League football owner then went to the NFL and was saying 'We do this in the Premier League.' I don't think many people agree with it, some people may differ with that view."
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