D.C. United's season is on life support, and the longstanding appeal of Major League Soccer's All-Star Game is in decline.

Neither were helped by the announcement of the reserves for the MLS midseason event, in which the league All-Stars will face Manchester United in Houston on Wednesday, July 28.

It will be the sixth straight summer exhibition since MLS realized that two All-Star squads didn't have enough star appeal and instead started annually forming one team to face off against a crowd-luring, credibility-building international opponent on a North American preseason tour.

In successive years, MLS teams beat Fulham, Chelsea, Celtic and West Ham before losing to Everton last summer on penalty kicks. But the bragging rights mean zip -- putting stock in an MLS All-Star Game result is as silly as Major League Baseball making its All-Star Game result matter. At least Women's Pro Soccer tried something new, having two All-Star team captains pick their own teams.

Still, the combination of the English Premier League giants and a 71,500-capacity Reliant Stadium could make MLS' latest showcase the most attractive affair in the league's history. Yet, league history appears to have outweighed the present when it comes to MLS commissioner Don Garber's two All-Star selections.

That's where D.C. United comes in, with Garber using one of his selections on Jaime Moreno.

There is no disputing the 36-year-old Bolivian is the best forward in the 15-year history of MLS -- he has the all-time scoring lead (132 goals) to prove it. One of the last players to have played every MLS season, Moreno deserves to be acknowledged in what could be his final campaign.

But he is not among the best 23 players in MLS in 2010. He's only started five of 17 regular season matches (he's 17th in minutes played on his own team), and he's scored only once.

Unless the All-Star Game is meant as a tribute match, Garber should've chosen 17-year-old midfielder Andy Najar, who may be the only redemptive element of a D.C. club that appears certain to miss the playoffs for a third straight year. Including Najar would at least be consistent with the idea of showcasing current talent.

Instead, Garber has given a nod to United's past. Of course, lately, that's the only place that the club has had any success.