Final score: Manchester United 5, MLS All-Stars 2.

What does tell us? Nothing, without the following bits on context that will explain why this game was different than the typical MLS summer friendly and why last night’s Twitter panic was a tad overblown:

– Man U were motivated, both on a team level and individual level. On a team level, they had just lost to the Kansas City Wizards, and the combination of a legendary club’s pride and some media pressure surely had them a bit more revved up than the typical EPL team on holiday. On an individual level, these guys are fighting for jobs — not just playing time, but jobs, given the new EPL roster limits.

– The Man U kids fighting for those jobs are pretty good. The third and fourth goals in last night’s game were sublime. You could lined up the all-time Serie A All-Stars against Man U, and they might have stopped the fourth with a hard foul. Not the third.

– The All-Stars had more nerves than usual, with an inexperienced side playing Man U in front of 70,000 people. That’s why you get a mistake like Kevin Alston’s poorly weighted pass to a flat-footed Jamison Olave in the first minute, leading directly to Goal #1.

– The experienced players would could’ve settled the side, like Landon Donovan and Dwayne De Rosario, played little because they’re busy with CONCACAF play.

And still, the All-Stars more than held their own in midfield, with Shalrie Joseph looking particularly strong. MLS outshot Man U 19-12, with 11 shots on target to Man U’s 9. But United keeper Edwin van der Sar played like someone who has as much interest in handing over his job as Brett Favre.

The final score was a matter of the defensive breakdowns that are bound to happen when you throw a team together for one game. The first goal was an MLS blunder. No. 2 was a case of one team being used to working together on set pieces and one not so fortunate. No. 5 was either offside or a player failing to push up with his linemates.

Chelsea, Everton, West Ham et al weren’t quite as efficient at capitalizing on those mistakes. That’s a combination of not being quite as motivated and perhaps not quite as confident. It’s also a case of this year’s All-Star team being weakened by various circumstances such as CONCACAF play.

All that said … it’s a friendly. You never know what you’re going to get or how seriously some people are going to take it. Sebastien Le Toux in particular seemed to be out for a leisurely stroll.

You can discern a few good things out of a friendly. The people rushing to buy Wizards tickets after Kansas City’s win hopefully saw a few signs of talent, even if the opponents weren’t up for it on that day. Anyone who saw last night’s game has to think United has some young players with flashes of brilliance.

But hanging Alston, Le Toux or coach Bruce Arena out to dry for the result overlooks the basic point. To restate:

It’s a friendly.

Resume panicking over CONCACAF games, though frankly, MLS didn’t win over any indifferent fans by winning that trophy twice and has every reason to take league games more seriously. Maybe Toronto or Seattle can eke out an away draw and calm people down. Though, frankly, both of those teams have plenty to worry about in the league games.

Back to business on Saturday.