MLS kicks the crap out of Chelsea 1-0

Wait, no one will believe that headline. It's just false. How about "Chelsea's third-string scrubs hold their own against MLS All-Stars." No. That's flat out wrong too. So what to make of yesterday's All-Star game? Truth is, this blog's token soccer contributor is stumped. On Friday, I proudly forcast a 3-1 pasting of the All-Stars by the Blues (who are an all-star team in their own right), and today I will take my crow cooked medium please.

For anyone looking to see what this game's result really means, keep in mind that it is an exhibition game. It counts for no points in the final league standings of MLS or the EPL.
Reactions today across the board are mixed. Naturally, MLS's official website proudly displays the result, with a photo of the team lifting the All-Star game challenge trophy.

So far, my favorite comment has come from my favorite punching bag, Jaimie Trecker of FoxSoccer.com. Who said "Seeing that such a team can be formed, those fans who watched the game tonight wouldn't be so wrong to ask: Why wasn't this done with the American national team six weeks ago in Germany?" Jamie, I would bet it would be because the team contained an Irishman, a native Ghanian, a Bolivian, two Argentinians, and a Canadian. The one goal of the game was scored by a Canadian, and an Irishman got the assist.

PROS for MLS to explain the result
- Chelsea played all of their starters for at least a half.
- The DeRosario goal was beautiful.
- The disallowed Chelsea goal was a legitimate offsides call- close, but legit.
- All players may be in midseason form, but the team only had two days of practice, as nearly all of the MLS sides represented Saturday were in action Wednesday night.
- If Chelsea is going to use "lack of fitness" as an excuse, then they are in for a rough start to their EPL campaign which starts in 15 days.
- If Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho says that none of his players were ready to go 90 minutes today, what happened? Half the team just got back from the World Cup (which ended July 9) and the EPL season kicks off in 2 weeks. What happened to everyone's fitness levels?

PROS for Chelsea to explain the result
- Many starters were pulled at halftime, including huge money transfers Shevchenko and Ballack.
- The team was playing not to get hurt, and after Joe Cole went down in the 51st minute, that only amplified itself, leading to a tentative attacking game.
- It's the first preseason game.
- Training for a week. Everyone was tired.
- The goal was scored against Chelsea's reserve keeper. No way Peter Cech lets that one in.
- If they played 10 all-star games, Chelsea would win at least 7 of them.
- Chelsea dominated most of the run of play, outshooting the All-Stars, who only put 2 shots on goal.

It's admittedly only one game, but even one game would have been laughable 10 years ago. MLS has come a long way, but let's not get ahead of ourselves in thinking that the league's best are better than Europe's best. Because if they were better, they sure as hell wouldn't be playing in MLS, and Chelsea wouldn't be coming here to do a pre-season tour.

But even more importantly from Saturday's game, no one walked away with any "Chelsea smiles."