MLS lost 18-5 to the Premier League and it means absolutely nothing

The Los Angeles Galaxy were humiliated by Manchester United Wednesday night.
7-0.
Sporting Kansas City were overwhelmed by Manchester City, too.
4-1.
FC Dallas was blanked by Aston Villa.
2-0.
Toronto FC and the Columbus Crew put up the best fight out of the five  MLS teams playing against English competition on Wednesday, but ultimately the Canadian side fell to Tottenham 3-2 and the Crew played Crystal Palace to a 2-2 draw.
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena called the drubbing his team received “a real lesson for a lot of players.”
There aren’t too many positives MLS fans can take from a collective 18-5 beating, but don’t dwell on the negatives for very long either. While these midseason friendlies offer a chance for American fans to see some of the premier European talent on display, the matches will never – ever – be an accurate representation of either league involved.

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MLS is in the middle of its season. Sporting Kansas City is atop the Eastern Conference table, unbeaten in a month, and facing third-place Toronto FC in two days. Why in the name of Graham Zusi’s ponytail would Sporting KC want to play a midweek match against the defending champion of the Premier League?
From a competitive standpoint it doesn’t make any sense, and the quotes out of Kansas City after the game said as much.
“Our emphasis is the league,” coach Peter Vermes said after the match. “We’re playing a big game on Saturday, and that’s where our concentration was and is. Our biggest thing is that we got out of here unscathed, because as you know we’ve had quite a few injuries over the course of this season.”

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When the primary objective is don’t get hurt, a 4-1 scoreline isn’t terribly surprising.
A 7-0 scoreline isn’t surprising either. It’s embarrassing, sure, but when the Galaxy chose to trot out a lineup riddled with reserves and second-team players against England’s most prolific club, Los Angeles was asking to get humiliated.
Manchester United was happy to oblige.
“Of course, it’s embarrassing,” Galaxy striker Robbie Keane said. “It’s embarrassing because we’re the LA Galaxy, and the scoreline doesn’t reflect how good of a team we are. It certainly doesn’t.
These matches are absolutely useless and borderline detrimental to MLS clubs. But an opportunity to fill the Rose Bowl with 85,000 people will never get passed up. Neither will a sellout in Kansas City’s Sporting Park.
Coaches don’t like it, players don’t need it, but if fans are willing to watch it, these farces and inflated scorelines will persist.