Wayne Rooney tells All-Star Team: ‘Go out and have fun’

As a player Wayne Rooney featured in the MLS All-Star Game twice, once on each side of the showpiece event. In 2011 he was in the touring Manchester United team who competed in the fixture and later went on to represent the MLS side while playing for DC United.

On Wednesday Rooney will complete a hat-trick of All-Star Game appearances when he takes charge of the MLS team to face Arsenal.

In an interview with The Times, Rooney outlined his plans for the game: “I get the players on Monday and my main message will be, ‘Go out and have fun’.”

“I’ll just put them in a shape and give some basic details, because there’ll be so many changes that you can’t do much more than that.”

“But I think we’ll compete,” he added. “We have some really good players. They’ll make it a difficult game for Arsenal. On Monday, a few of the lads are going to the White House.”

Rooney keen to continue managerial journey in MLS

The 37-year-old is now in his second season as an MLS manager and his DC United team are much-improved. He began his coaching career in the English second tier with Derby County but decided that he could broaden his horizons with a move to the United States.

“It’s why I wanted to come here,” Rooney said, “Because all the time I’m learning different things and benefiting as a coach by experiencing different things.”

“I feel like I’m on a journey. This is my third year managing, in two very different and difficult circumstances. And I feel you have to go through this to get to where you want to go.”

Leading a team in a one-off fixture like the All-Star Game presents unique challenges for Rooney but he has been eager to embrace features of US soccer that may previously have felt alien. He recently completed his Pro License with the English FA, delivering his final presentation on the contrasting transfer systems of MLS and the Premier League.

New experiences vital for Rooney

Before moving to DC United at the age of 33 Rooney had never played outside of England. However he believes that the experience of playing and subsequently coaching overseas has broadened his knowledge and allowed him to progress as a coach.

He explained: “I look at Arsène Wenger going out to Japan, Carlos Queiroz coaching in loads of different places. So many managers have been in different countries and learned before getting to the top level and I just felt it was right for me.”

DC United are currently in the playoff places with ten games to go and could make it to the post-season for the first time since 2019, when Rooney starred as a player. In fact, the last time DC made the playoffs without Rooney was in 2016. Returning the team to the playoffs would be a major achievement in his nascent coaching career but he refuses to get carried away.

“I’m not stupid and arrogant enough to think that I can go in from scratch and manage at the top level,” Rooney said. “I feel like I’ve been going through a process and an education and that with every game and every week I’m improving. I’m loving it still.”