Rooney blasts Apple over staff seat ban and slams referee after Arsenal loss
Wayne Rooney has slammed tech giants Apple for kicking his staff out of their seats during the MLS All-Star game against Arsenal.
Manchester United legend Rooney was a manager at this year's event but his team made up of the league's best players were humbled by Arsenal. Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, Jorginho, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz ensured a 5-0 victory for Mikel Arteta.
And if the result wasn't bad enough, Rooney's staff were ejected from their own seats during the contest. He did not give an explanation as to why.
Discussing the impact the game has on the MLS, Rooney said: "I think everything about the game is great publicity for the league. Moving forward, Apple coming into the league has been great."
But then he added: "Although they didn't allow my staff to sit in the seats, my staff got kicked out of their seats by members of Apple. I wouldn't be doing my staff service if I didn't bring that up because if you're getting asked to do the game, and they're your staff, you'll expect your staff to have seats to sit in.
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"That was very disappointing. But I do think Apple will help the league grow moving forward."
Criticising the league's own handling of the event further, Rooney said: "It's difficult. On Monday all the players arrived and we had a small-sided game. On Tuesday, as I suggested, I didn't want them training at the National Mall, but that's where we trained and we can't do anything but head tennis.
Wayne Rooney was not happy at full-time (Vanessa Carvalho/REX/Shutterstock)"So we had no time of training whatsoever so you put the players out there and hope the figure things out. And against a team like Arsenal that's a very hard thing to do."
Rooney also took a swipe at referee Ted Unkel. Five yellow cards were handed out in the first half to the MLS All-Star team and when VAR asked Unkel to look at the pitch-side monitor for a potential penalty, he stuck with his initial decision.
Discussing the referee, Rooney said: "It was a bit stop-start. The referee made the game a little bit about himself once again. Which is something he needs to improve. In the MLS I've said it all season so it's a good opportunity for me to bring it up again.
"It's a disappointing result but overall it's a good event for the fans, especially the fans in DC to see some of the best players from the Premier League."
Rooney didn't hold back when discussing his team's poor performance. The gulf in class evident with an Arsenal team who never really got out of third gear. "The result is what it is and Arsenal showed good quality, which they have," Rooney said. "I think All-Star lads looked a bit nervous and hesitant, especially first half when we got into some good areas and could have got some shots off. You've seen the difference in quality, Arsenal are one of the best teams in Europe.
Asked what he learned from the spectacle, Rooney replied: "Absolutely nothing."
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