One of the biggest differences between American and European professional sports is the All-Star Game. In the United States, the All-Star Game is the next big event after the championship game. In European soccer, there is no such thing as an all-star game.
Wayne Rooney, the head coach of DC United in the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS), explained why, as reported by the British media “Express” on Sept. 19 (KST). Rooney played as a legend for Manchester United in the English Premier League during his playing days. He’s been a head coach in the MLS since 2022 and knows the difference between the two sides.
On Tuesday, Rooney will lead the MLS All-Stars in a preseason friendly against Premier League favorites Arsenal at Audi Field (home of DC United) in Washington. Rooney and Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta were on hand for the game’s official press conference to discuss the All-Star game.
“I don’t think so,” Rooney said of the possibility of a Premier League All-Star game.
“Everything is different in America. The culture is different. In America, the All-Star Game is a big deal. In England, there’s too much rivalry between the teams, too many cultural differences. Players might also complain about playing too many games. I don’t think it’s going to have much of an effect,” he said, concluding that the negatives would far outweigh the positives.
Arteta, on the other hand, is intrigued.
“It’s really cool to play against the MLS All-Stars,” Arteta said. “It could be the other way around if we had to play a lot of players in the middle of the season. But I think it’s great to see the most talented players on the team come together. If I were a player, I would definitely want to have that experience. I think we’ll be able to do that in the future.”
The idea of a Premier League All-Star game has been done before, with Chelsea owner Todd Boeli publicly proposing it last year, only to receive a huge backlash. 메이저사이트
Boeli is American. He also owns a stake in Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers. He found it rather odd that the UK didn’t have an All-Star Game. “The Major League Baseball All-Star Game made $200 million over two days,” he said. Why doesn’t the Premier League have playoffs and an All-Star game? It would be interesting to see a north vs. south matchup.”
In response, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said, “I know that in America, athletes take four months off. Soccer is completely different. You want players from Man United, Liverpool, Everton, and Newcastle to play in the same team when they’re not on the national team? You want Arsenal and Tottenham players to play together? That’s funny,” he objected.