THE MLS STARS CAME OUT this weekend, as high-priced talent took the field in California, New Jersey, and elsewhere. Some of these high-profile players performed well, but others most certainly did not. 

Team of the week: L.A. Galaxy

Giovani Dos Santos, Steven Gerard, and Robbie Keane earn the biggest soccer salaries in the Southland, . but that only tells part of the story. Omar Gonzalez, Sebastian Lletget, Juninho, A.J. de la Garza, and Gyasi Zardes also make up a first-choice starting XI that is likely the most talented in league history.

Saturday’s match against Seattle was the first time all of these players had the chance to play together and they did not disappoint. Even after conceding an early opening goal, the afternoon belonged to Los Angeles. In the end it was fitting that Zardes, Dos Santos, and Keane all got on the score sheet.

“Stevie’s been around for a while and you can see his experience, professionalism, and his sheer talent,” Arena said. “I thought in the second half he and Juninho played very well and helped us take control of the game.  [Giovani] dos Santos is going to take a little bit of time but I think already the chemistry with his teammates is good. He’s going to be a terrific player and I think the next couple of weeks he is going to get full fitness and really fit in well with our team.  I am pleased with the addition of those two players.”

“We have a long way to go,” he added. “We’ve played 25 different lineups in 25 different games, so I don’t know what we are supposed to envision but it’ll take some time with our group playing together.  We still have some players that are out with injuries that are going to help us, and hopefully over the next month or so we start getting in good form.”

Pirlo and NYCFC Disappoint

The difference in quality separating the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC was on full display Sunday night. In one corner you had aging veterans who have played in some of the biggest games the sport has to offer. In the other corner, you had younger players, many in the prime of their careers, who lacked World Cup or Champions League experience.

In case you missed it, the no-name home side won. The Red Bulls outplayed New York City yet again and found ways to take David Villa, Frank Lampard, and Andrea Pirlo out of the game. Pirlo in particular was very disappointing as his counterpart, Dax McCarty, won their midfield battle.

The Red Bulls were fun to watch and look like a team that can go far in the playoffs. It’s dangerous to draw too many conclusions from one game, but it will be interesting to see if this is a bellwether test as to how much aging players can carry a team in a physical and athletic league like MLS.

“I can't take credit for that,” Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch said of his team’s performance. “We have a fearless team. That was a personal challenge, I think, for those guys. I think our guys wanted to prove a point and go in there and play against world-class players [and] show they're up for the task. The way we play and how we play and who we are is still going to make us successful.”

Marsch was also quick to separate the Red Bulls approach from that of New York City’s high-spending ways.

“That's their approach,” he said. “It's their philosophy. It's fair enough. It has made a big splash in the community, right? I think a lot of people are excited about players like Pirlo and Lampard and Villa, and rightfully so. Great players, great careers, amazing, right? It's just different from what we're doing. We're sticking to what we're doing.”

Now with three wins over New York City this year, the Red Bulls players were quick to have some fun with their regional dominance.

Bring em out #RBNY #NYisRED pic.twitter.com/jYh0acWkY8

— Dax McCarty (@DaxMcCarty11) August 10, 2015

Player of the week: Dax McCarty

The central midfielder did not get on the scoreboard but he controlled the pace of the game. The Florida native completed 55 out of 66 passes and also made eight interceptions and four key tackles en route to the win.

At this point it is anyone’s guess as to where U.S. men’s national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann ranks McCarty. Regardless, he is one of the best American central midfielders at the moment.

Young Player of the week: Tommy Redding

By all accounts, Orlando has enjoyed a nice season for an expansion team. It still has a chance at the playoffs and there is tremendous buzz around the team thanks to vocal fans and a new stadium on the way.

One thing that has been a bit of a weak point, however, has been the team’s reluctance to play young homegrown players. Yes, Orlando City has Cyle Larin (who will win this year’s MLS Rookie of the Year award) but players like Conor Donovan and Tommy Redding have struggled for minutes.

In Saturday’s scoreless draw against Philadelphia, U.S. U-20 defender Donovan earned the start but had to be replaced in the 14^th minute following an injury. Redding, a strong candidate for the new U-20 cycle, replaced him and had a very strong game in his MLS debut.

“I thought he was very composed, very good on the ball, he read the game well,” Orlando coach Adrian Heath said. “Tommy is a little one. He has hardly played any football all season. So, he is absolutely exhausted in there, he is shattered. It is difficult when you have to throw them in when probably they aren’t 100 percent ready.”

Despite uncertainty in central defense for the senior side, U.S. Soccer should feel very good about its domestic prospects at the position.

Goal of the week: Krisztián Németh

The Hungarian’s header off a Benny Feilhaber free kick gave Sporting Kansas City a 2-1 lead over Toronto en route to a 3-1 win.

D.C. United Outshot 25-1—and wins

In what has to be the craziest stat of the weekend, D..C United won its match against Montreal despite being thoroughly outplayed by the Impact in an Eastern Conference clash. The Canadian squad held D.C. to just one shot on goal—but that shot found the back of the net. Meanwhile, Montreal couldn’t get any of its 25 shots on frame past Bill Hamid.

Despite the embarrassing shot disadvantage, United prevailed and extended its division lead.

Montreal is still a safe to make the postseason—mostly because Didier Drogba joins the team in about a week, at which point the team’s offensive production should improve.

“I’m extremely proud of the group,” Montreal coach Frank Klopas said after the loss. “It’s not just the shots; I felt we dominated the game. Other than a mistake early on, it was just unfortunate. The only thing missing was the goal.

“It’s frustrating, not because we lost points at home, but it was an opportunity. When you look at the other results in the league, you could be sitting in third place tomorrow with games in hand. I think Hamid made some big saves today. As far as scoring goals, we’re top five in the league. It’s unfortunate we gave up that early on, but we kept things pretty tight and created chances. One of them just has to go in.”

D.C. United Ben Olsen acknowledged his team did not play well, despite the win on the road.

"I would've liked to have played better, but we had a guy go down the day before a game and so some of our rhythms were off,” Olsen said. “You prepare all week, things go awry, and you change up and you adapt.

“This stuff happens, and you find ways to win."

Altidore Continues to struggle

Toronto FC has the best player in the league right now in Sebastian Giovinco. Michael Bradley is also one of the league’s top talents. Despite their presence, this team just makes too many dumb mistakes.

Case in point: in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Kansas City, Toronto conceded its eighth penalty. It’s something head coach Greg Vanney and staff needs to take responsibly and fix immediately. Yes, Toronto should finally make the playoffs for the first time in its existence—failure to do so would rank among the biggest embarrassments in MLS history given the team’s financial investment. But if the team is not mentally stronger, they’re not going to go far in the post season.

“Too often we find ourselves in reactive scenarios, the ball comes in and maybe catches us by surprise and our response is to grab or to hold once we end up in a reactive position you’re at the mercy of the attacker and too often we’re finding ourselves in those situations,” Vanney said. “Our marking has to get better. It’s just not good enough at the end of the day. You can’t allow three goals, as we’ve said many times, and expect to win.”

And of course, there is Jozy Altidore who put on yet another unimpressive display for Toronto.

In the Gold Cup, everybody excused Altidore’s shoddy showing due to a lingering injury. But he has been back for well over a month now and he’s not getting it done. His career is just one of enormous peaks and valleys—he’s either unstoppable or completely ineffective—and right now he is at a low point for both Toronto and the U.S. national team.

Another great weekend for attendance

When you include the two games played last Wednesday, Major League Soccer’s attendance averaged 22,726 for the week.

Those are great numbers, and they didn’t benefit from the Seattle bump that can often skew the stats.  Also, when you remove Orlando City’s game—which was played in the huge Citrus Bowl—221,489 fans filled a total of 239,572 available seats. The 92.45% capacity would make commissioners in other sports very happy—even though the TV numbers still leave much to be desired.

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.