There are multiple reasons why the ICC is a good thing and many clubs view it as important. Firstly, most years it allows managers to make assessments of their teams versus the better teams in other leagues around the world. As stated by previous posters, it is a lot more telling to watch our kids play against Dortmund than a lower division side. Having it over here in the US and other countries is fantastic for marketing and growing the fan base. It also is very good for team spirit, assuming there are not cancers in the locker room. Obviously, world cup years are much harder than non-world cup years.
A few months back, there was a great interview with Charlie Stillitano who is the face of the ICC. He said that the first year, it was hard to convince teams to come play in a meaningless tournament in pre-season. But he was able to raise enough money to convince a few teams to come but I think the rags were by far the biggest. The teams that came all did very well during that season. The next year was a little bit easier to get teams to come so the tournament grew and the cost paid was less. Again, those teams that participated did very well during the season. A few of the managers at that time started talking publicly how going up against good competition in the pre-season really helped get the team focused before the season started. It also helped to show where help was needed, etc. Now, teams are begging to come play. They love that they get fans excited to watch them play a meaningless game. The competition to be a part of the ICC has gotten strong enough that now teams aren't compensated, and some of them even pay for their own hotel stays, etc. So the cost of putting on this even gets smaller and smaller. Some countries are now coming to the table offering up some strong incentives to try and get some matches played in their country. Its how there have been matches in Australia and China and that list is likely to grow a little bit over the next few years.
I thought Foden was excellent. I thought that Mahrez was good on the ball, but you could tell that he doesn't really know the style of play as of yet. In the first half, our defensive shape was way too fluid. There were just too many openings for Dortmund to exploit But it improved as the match went along. I think on the whole, the team played pretty well. Sure there were some bad calls. Those things will happen during the season. I was impressed with how calm on the ball the younger players were. While our team didn't win, holding your own against a team that is far closer to their starting 11 than yours is pretty telling of the talent level. I think the guys we saw play last night would be able to stay in the PL if they were a team of their own. Just a lot of talent, but not a lot of experience.
