Premier League All-Star Game – Should there be a clash of the titans?

With the NBA All-Star taking place this weekend, I was wondering whether we could one day see a Premier League match in the same style. (If you missed my last piece,  the link is here).

Here’s some brief history. The NBA All-Star game (inaugurated in 1951) is an exhibition game which is played each February during the season (the season commences in September).

Until 2018, the game would usually feature an East v West matchup. Last year saw a change when the current format was dropped in favour of players being picked for two different teams regardless of conference which saw “Team LeBron” go up against “Team Stephen”.

How would this work for the Premier League? (or perhaps, Europe – another conversation for another day).

Venue

This event would take place around various grounds in the UK. Lets say this would start in 2020, the ground that I would imagine this match would take place is Manchester City stadium due to its capacity.

Or on second thoughts, this sort of event wouldn’t fair well with UK fans, so how about staging it in the US?

Teams

The two best players from different sides (let’s say Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah) can choose players based on form with their respective managers.

How would the teams be chosen? To avoid a situation where its just players from the top six clubs, players from outside the top six would be chosen first, then the players from the top six (based on form).

Team captains can choose up to 10 other starting players, along with seven substitutes.

Structure

This would be a week-long event leading up to the game with challenges such as the crossbar challenge, and quizzes for fans to take part in beforehand.

(Comment below what events you’d like to see in the build-up).

When would this take place? Much like the NBA, this event would take place during the season (international break), or when a Winter-break is introduced. How about at the end of the season, before the FA Cup final?

Would you like to see this replace the Community Shield, or be played a week before?

Format

As with a normal game, the match would be 90 minutes long. If the match ends in a draw, penalties would be used to decide, but not like a normal shootout, but rather a similar shootout that’s usually seen in hockey, and how the MLS used to do penalties, as seen here: 

 

 

What are your thoughts on a Premier League All-Star game?