Major League Soccer needs to find a better solution as to how it schedules its annual All-Star Game.

While it is important for the league to showcase its top players against European competition, it can’t come at the expense of club ambition.

The 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star Game will take place on Wednesday, July 28 at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. The opponent is Manchester United and that kind of exposure is good for the league and its players.

[inline_node:3983]However, the league’s three most widely followed clubs – Toronto, Seattle and Los Angeles – are greatly affected by this as top players are either over-extended or shut out for this match as stars are asked to fulfill their Champions League dreams, and then test themselves against European football royalty. 

The players deserve a chance to be honoured, but MLS has to mitigate their risk for fatigue or injury that increases due to a compacted schedule.

Toronto will be sending its captain and top performer Dwayne De Rosario to Houston immediately after he features against Motagua, in what will be a pivotal night at BMO Field for the Reds’ Champions League undertaking on July 27.

Los Angeles will truck at least four players and their coach to the contest less than 24-hours after playing against Puerto Rico in another continental preliminary match.

Seattle players – though not in the MLS First XI – will not be able to take part in the match once the final squad is announced, due to their own Champions League preliminary contest against Isidro Metapan of El Salvador that takes place on the very same evening as the Manchester United clash.

Purists of football don’t see much point in the All-Star Game, particularly at the risk of their team suffering as a result. But the league, most players and host cities love the concept of a showcase. 

It’s difficult for MLS to schedule this game around the summer plans of European clubs. Only a handful of dates are ever available in the short window that traveling teams provide. Next season, the addition of two new MLS teams won’t do the schedule makers any favours either.

A better solution is necessary and it may have to come at some expense to league vanity as MLS clubs get bigger in name and more ambitious in the CONCACAF Champions League – which needs to be used as a bigger vehicle to grow the league's overall popularity in our region.