A former Bundesliga player, Christoph Kramer, expects the controversial 32-team club football world cup in ten years to be a success.
According to Kramer, in ten years, the club world cup will be a normal event and people will think, “How cool is that?” Then, TV viewership will also be significantly higher than at this year’s tournament, which begins in the US on the night of Saturday to Sunday. Kramer considers the timing of the club world cup, just a few days after the Nations League’s Final Four, to be a bit unfortunate, but it will continue to fuel a trend in top-level football. “You need a shadow squad of eleven more players who can do the same workload. Otherwise, you’ll be constantly chasing players without a reasonable rotation, leading to injuries. The rosters in football will have to get bigger, both in terms of numbers and quality” he said.
Kramer does not expect a significant difference in football quality in the next ten years. However, he warns of the increasing burden on professional footballers. “For the 100 to 200 best players in the world, who play in these absolute top clubs and nations, it’s a load that should not be underestimated” he said. A four-week break, he believes, is “not necessarily for the body, but rather for the mind” essential.