Tribal Football

Wenger rejects Klopp criticism: Fans and clubs showing Club World Cup a success

Paul Vegas
Wenger rejects Klopp criticism: Fans and clubs showing Club World Cup a success
Wenger rejects Klopp criticism: Fans and clubs showing Club World Cup a successProfimedia
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has rejected the criticism of Jurgen Klopp of the Club World Cup.

Ex-Liverpool manager and current Red Bull global chief Klopp has been scathing of the tournament, declaring it the worst idea in football.

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But FIFA official Wenger, recognising the popularity the tournament has generated around the world, stated: "I am going to give a very boring answer to a very interesting question. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I don't share the view of Jurgen Klopp at all.

"I feel a Club World Cup is needed. If you make enquiries to all the clubs who were here then 100% of answers would be that they would want to do it again. That's the best answer of what the clubs think of a Club World Cup.

"And the decisive question is do the fans like it or not? We believe the attendances were projected as low and in reality were much higher. The answer is there."

 

 

Learning from the original

Wenger says there will be lessons to take from the first version of the expanded Club World Cup.

"The heat in some games was a problem but we tried to combat that with cooling breaks, watering the pitches during the break and overall I feel we learned a lot on that front," Wenger said.

"In two different venues (there was a problem), one of them was Orlando. But we shouldn't underestimate the quality of the permanent (real grass) pitches.

"The grass is a bit different here. It's a bit harsher or more resistant than in other countries. The pitches were 'flat'. But once we watered the grass, everyone was happy.

"Certainly next year in stadiums there will also be more with roofs and the TV times will be more sensitive. At the same time, the weather conditions can be a problem for everybody.

"I asked our analysts to analyse the impact of the heat. We found heat of over 35C had an impact on high-speed running, so sprints, not distances. You have to be equipped to deal with it."