5 things we learned in MLS Week 19: All-Stars named, Portland spelling bee

Week 19 of the 2016 MLS season was jam-packed with action, as several teams played two matches in this double-header round. New York City FC snagged yet another away win, this time over the Montreal Impact, while a nine-man San Jose Earthquakes squad defeated Toronto FC.

Here's what we learned in Week 19:

The All-Star team is chock-full of, well ... stars

MLS announced Sunday the full 26-man roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game, and, as expected, there were plenty of star players making the final cut to take on Arsenal at Avaya Stadium on July 29.

The obvious names all made the team, with Sebastian Giovinco, David Villa, Kaka, Didier Drogba, and Giovani Dos Santos combining alongside U.S. internationals like Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, Matt Besler, Darlington Nagbe, and Chris Wondolowski, as well as other league stars like Laurent Ciman, Ignacio Piatti, and Cyle Larin.

Related: 3 ways the 2016 MLS All-Star team could line up against Arsenal

LA Galaxy midfielder Steven Gerrard wasn't named to the team, nor was New York City FC midfielder Frank Lampard, but his teammate Andrea Pirlo most certainly did, and for good reason; he is the most popular player in MLS, with jerseys bearing his name and number selling more than any other in the league.

The Seattle Sounders are a roller-coaster ride

In the span of a single week of action, the Seattle Sounders defeated league leaders FC Dallas 5-0, then lost 3-1 to the rival Portland Timbers in a Cascadia Cup rivalry league fixture.

The 2016 Sounders are an inconsistent bunch.

Take, for example, the goal-scoring exploits of young star striker Jordan Morris, who didn't score in his first five league fixtures, then scored in four straight matches, and has now settled in to about a goal every other game to sit comfortably with seven goals in 19 matches.

The only place the Sounders aren't inconsistent is in the standings, having lost 11 matches this season, the most of any team thus far in the competition (including the Chicago Fire ... yeah.)

Atlanta's signing players ... without existing

We have seen some pretty ridiculous transfers in the world of football over the last few years, as Chinese fortunes lure those who seek it and MLS continues to attract star names, but Atlanta United isn't even a real team yet and it's already signing players, which is a little ludicrous.

Or should we say ... Ludacris.

Atlanta United signed former Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones, to the delight of the rap artist turned "Fast and Furious" star. The Trinidad and Tobago captain was quite pleased with his MLS welcome.

How to spell a defenders' name

What else did we learn in MLS this week? How to spell Vytautas Andriuskevicius' name. The Portland Timbers announced its latest signing last Thursday, and while we're not even going to attempt to pronounce it, at least spelling it isn't too bad.

You've just got to break it down to the sum of its parts.

Vytautas is really just your standard "Vytas" with a "tau" throw smack-dab in the middle; the last name can be broken up into two, "Andrius" and "Kevicius." Andrius Kevicius. It sounds like a rather painful Harry Potter spell involving ancient wizards "Andrew" and "Kevin." There's your trick to remembering it!

Vytautas Andriuskevicius - we'll just call him Vytas.

There's a new way to acquire players

Major League Soccer's convoluted rules make player acquisitions a riddle to figure out, and, combined with a standardized non-disclosure policy on contract terms, finding out details of a player signing can be a nightmare.

It's why we're a fan of this new way of acquiring players, as the Vancouver Whitecaps showed us this week: