By Daily Sports on April 20, 2020

Former D.C. United star Wayne Rooney says MLS owners are “taking advantage” of American players through the U.S.-style trade system.

Derby County midfielder Rooney, who spent 18 months at United before leaving the club in January, said that while the trade system is well suited to other American leagues such as the NBA and NFL, players in MLS do not earn enough for the system to be fair.

Speaking on former D.C. teammate Quincy Amarikwa’s podcast, “Perfect Soccer’s Ask A Pro Show,” Rooney said: “I didn’t realise it before, but obviously when I got there [MLS], I seen it. My first week, we had a player who, when he finished training, he got told he was getting transferred onto somewhere else.

“I was like, ‘Why? What’s going on here? Where is he going? What’s going on?’ So it’s difficult. I spoke to [D.C. teammate] Steve [Birnbaum] a lot. I was like, ‘Can he do that? Is it that easy to do? Is it that easy to actually move someone on?’

“There’s no thought behind it in terms of this player might have a family, children ... a life here. They might get told, ‘You know what? Move on.’

Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and a host of other guests every day as football plots a path through the coronavirus crisis. 

“I know it works that way in basketball and in the NFL, but those players get paid millions and millions of pounds. So they can afford to actually do that, but MLS players can't. They probably get a small percentage of money which won’t even cover the bills, won't even cover what they have to live on. It’s wrong for that to happen.

“I think MLS needs to really look at that because, from seeing it, a lot of them owners are taking advantage of the league [structure], which is affecting American players.

“The American players are just the same as the South Americans, the English, the Spanish. The American players work just as hard, if not harder, and get taken advantage of.”

Former Manchester United striker Rooney, 34, scored 25 goals in 52 appearances for D.C. United before joining Derby as a player-coach in January. (ESPN)

Meanwhile, Rooney believes Lionel Messi is a cut above the “incredible” Cristiano Ronaldo because the Barcelona superstar “will torture you before he kills you.”

Rooney and Ronaldo tormented defences during time as team-mates in an outstanding Manchester United side before the Portugal forward joined Real Madrid in 2009.

They spent a total of five seasons together at Old Trafford, a spell that yielded three Premier League titles and Champions League glory in 2007-8, a feat that sealed Ronaldo's first Ballon d'Or. 

But former England captain Rooney considers Messi, winner of the Ballon d’Or on six occasions, to be a step above his friend and ex-team-mate and the best on the planet.

The Derby County skipper wrote in his Sunday Times column: “Ronaldo wasn’t as focused on goals when we started playing together but you could see that all he wanted was to be the best player in the world.

“He practised and practised and began to produce. Cristiano has become an incredible scorer and he and Messi are arguably the best two players the game has seen.

“But despite my friendship with Cristiano, I’d go for Messi. It’s for the same reason I loved watching Xavi and [Paul] Scholes: it’s the different things in Messi’s game.”

Rooney went on to explain that he believes Messi’s natural talent gives him the edge over Cristiano, whom he nevertheless singles out as lethal in front of goal.

“I’ve talked about composure and I can’t remember seeing Messi score when he has hit the ball as hard as he could. He just rolls them in, makes it so easy,” he added.

“Ronaldo is ruthless in the box, a killer. But Messi will torture you before he kills you. With Messi you just get the impression he is having more fun.

“Those two have completely changed the game in terms of goalscoring numbers and I don't think they’ll ever be matched.”

Rooney’s Derby County sat in 12th place in the Championship when the league was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, but the Rams are still within touching distance of the play-offs, trailing Preston by just five points with nine games to play. (Goal)

•PHOTO: Wayne Rooney 

Source Daily Sports

Posted April 20, 2020

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