Wayne Rooney didn't hide his thoughts after the match. Photo: AFP/Bastien Inzaurralde. lift the team off the bench ahead of the MLS All-Star game against Arsenal.
The former Manchester United and England captain lashed out at the Apple cashiers of Major League Soccer after the All Stars' 5-0 defeat by Mikel Arteta's side at Audi Field in Washington on Wednesday night.
But the MLS responded by denying Rooney's allegations that employees Apple flopped into the dugout at the expense of members of his coaching team. Rooney, D.C. United coach, was in charge of the All-Star Team for this game.
In a statement released Thursday, MLS said: «It is not true that any Apple employee was sitting in the technical area during yesterday's Major League Soccer All-Star Game.»
The spat is an unfortunate side story for MLS as it continues efforts to raise the league's profile and a delicate situation given the money Apple is pouring into the competition.
Last year, the MLS concluded a landmark 10-year global a $2.5 billion formal rights agreement with the tech giant. in the great development of football in the United States.
Rooney believes Apple will help MLS grow, but that hasn't stopped him from criticizing the company for its perceived behavior.
“Everything is great in the game and it's great advertising to move the league forward. Apple getting into the league is great, even though they didn't let my employees sit down today,» Rooney said.
“Today, Apple members kicked my employees out of their jobs. And I won't be doing my staff a favor if I don't mention it, because if you're asked to host a game with your staff, you expect your staff to have seats, although I do think Apple will help the league move forward.»
Rooney's complaints about Apple employees were not his only gripe that evening.
In wide-ranging criticism, the former Manchester United striker also lambasted the preparations for the match, hitting the performance of re Feri T. Ed Unkel and bluntly admitted that he «took absolutely nothing» from the game.
Rooney was unhappy that the All-Stars did not have access to proper practice facilities before the game and were instead limited to playing tennis on the National Mall, the landscape park between the Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial.
When asked what he took away from the game, Rooney replied, «Absolutely nothing. No, listen. It's difficult. On Monday all the players arrived, and on Tuesday we had a small game.
“Like I said, I didn't want them to train at the National Mall, but we trained there and there's nothing we can do. We were into headtennis so we didn't have time for any tactics so you put the players in and hope they can figure it all out and against a team like Arsenal it's very difficult.»
Rooney was a vocal critic of MLS refereeing standards and was also unimpressed by Unkel's performance and accused the referee of trying to make the game 'about himself'.
Unkel issued six warnings and awarded one penalty, which was converted by Jorginho. Despite being referred by Vahr to a field monitor shortly afterward to check on suspicion of handball, Unckel stuck to his original decision not to award Arsenal another penalty. y's All Stars Credit & Copyright: Getty Images/David Price
«It was a bit of a stop-start,» Rooney said of the game. «I think the referee has made the game a little bit about himself again, so this is something that needs to be improved in MLS — I've been talking about this all season — so this is a good opportunity for me to bring this topic up again.»
Despite his disappointment, Rooney admitted he was impressed with Arsenal and believes signing Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Yourrien Timber for a total of £200m could help them improve their Premier League record next season after surrendering. the title in recent weeks went to Manchester City last season.
«I think it's probably very difficult for someone to challenge Manchester City, but I really like the players that Arsenal signed,» said Rooney. «I think they've signed some really good players, some with experience.
«If you look at the players that Arsenal have acquired and signed, they've really built a solid platform for them to try and do better than they did last season and I think they will.
«They have a really good coach in Mikel Arteta and I think the new signings will help them try not to do what they were doing that was thrown away by the end of last season.»
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