Yesterday’s announcement of the MLS All-Star First XI raised no eyebrows as the starters for the July 29 showcase against Everton were revealed. There was little fan-fare to behold as the names hit the Internet around mid-afternoon on Monday. Here’s a look at the starting XI via MLSnet.com:

Goalkeeper: Kasey Keller (Seattle Sounders FC)

Defenders: Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), Wilman Conde (Chicago Fire), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew)

Midfielders: Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution) Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle Sounders FC), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew

Forwards: Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

First impression are generally irrational, but one can’t help but ponder the presence of one Freddie Ljungberg. The sweet-scoring Swede has solid credentials and has played well out in Seattle, but in this humble writer’s opinion hasn’t been the best midfielder for the Sounders this year — those accolades falling to Osvaldo Alonso.

However, with the Cuban’s niggling injury issues, the door opened for Ljungberg. I wonder what the former Arsenal attacker thinks of such silly drivel that is the All-Star game. For all the posturing of the Euro-snobs in America, perhaps the All-Star provides some of their best ammunition when launching negative salvos at the league.

Notable omissions? Fredy Montero was making a push towards the end of voting, and teammates Jhon Kennedy Hurtado has been almost as important as Kasey Keller in Seattle’s early success. Santino Quaranta deserved a long look, as he leads D.C. United in assists thus far. All that aside, it is simply a popularity contest and not worth getting bent out of shape about.

Crew Visit Obama at White House

Is it just me or is the American tradition of sending a major title winner the White House a bit mundane? With the Crew visiting the White House yesterday, President Obama took some time out of his notoriously busy day to laud the MLS Champions with a few kind words for the sport.

“I see my daughters love playing this game of soccer and we know that this is an exciting time for soccer in America. It is clear that soccer in America is on the rise and that MLS is a big part of that,” Obama said, obviously referring to recent Confederations Cup run.

The Crew had the obligiatory jersey with “Obama 44″ on the back as well as a team ball. The Crew drew some objections to the way the visit was spun, as reported by the Columbus Dispatch. It’s worth a short read, but fortunately it didn’t become a big issue.

Chad Barrett voted Player of the Week

In what is usually another popularity contest, Toronto FC striker Chad Barrett was selected as the Player of the Week after a solid performance against San Jose. His two goals and an assist were notable contributions in a 3-1 win against San Jose — however, the skeptic in me doesn’t agree with the selection. It reeks of voters simply mailing it in and picking the player with the best stats.

Add to that Barrett’s second goal came when Quakes defender Aaron Pitchkolan went down with an injury. However, those opposed to Barrett’s selection should note that their wasn’t a myriad of options out there. If anything hopefully Barrett will continue to play like this and help Toronto fans forget they need a new striker.

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