In recent years, MLS has given itself a facelift.

Clubs have made a conscious effort to rid the league of its wrinkly, retirement-home image in favor of a younger, hungrier look. It’s now more common for a designated player to be a young prospect from a South American league — like Miguel Almiron — or a player in his prime years looking to escape the European football food chain — a la Sebastian Giovinco — than a former superstar looking for some low-maintenance soccer to play out his years.

Teams like Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls understand this philosophy, and both have benefitted. The two have been a cut above the rest this season and are competing for the Supporters’ Shield (given to the best team of the regular season). Further down the table, DC United and the LA Galaxy are battling for playoff spots in their respective conferences on the backs of 32-year-old Wayne Rooney and 37-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Rooney snagged a brace in a vital 2-1 win against the Chicago Fire on Sunday while Ibrahimovic scored in a disappointing, yet still fruitful 1-1 draw on the road Saturday with Sporting Kansas City. It’s stunning both of these clubs, rife with flaws, are still in contention for the playoffs. Additionally, Rooney and Ibrahimovic’s form this season prove — for better and for worse — there’s still a place in MLS for the washed-up living legend.

The media seemed to agree the acquisitions seemed suspect from a competitive standpoint. Following a serious knee injury last year, Ibrahimovic re-signed with Manchester United only to play behind Romelu Lukaku. Wayne Rooney effectively played for Everton for half a season, literally failing to produce anything (0 goals, 0 assists) for the Toffees after Christmas of the 2017-18 season. Both players had a ton of mileage on their legs entering the United States, a bad sign for a physically and logistically (in regards to weather and travel) demanding league like MLS. Just ask Steven Gerrard, who signed for the Galaxy for the LA lifestyle and soon realized he had to actually play some soccer.

With only a couple of weeks left in the regular season, it’s hard to imagine where DC United and the Galaxy would be without their old superstars. Rooney has nine goals and seven assists through 16 appearances as United has won nine, lost four and tied three over that span. Pre-Rooney, the team was far from the playoff conversation at 2-7-5. Thanks to the Premier League legend, DC United is in control of its own destiny. Two points behind the Montreal Impact with two games in hand and a vastly superior goal difference, United can afford to tie two of its final four games and still snag the final playoff spot.

Rooney is playing like a potent striker for the first time since his mid-20s, which has helped him form a dangerous partnership with fellow United star Luciano Acosta. Rooney has assisted Acosta on four of the Argentine’s goals, including this cross-field ball to beat Orlando City at the death in one of the most iconic moments of the season.

The only moment more special than that this year was Ibrahimovic’s game-tying volley against LAFC during his MLS debut.

That might not even be his best goal in a Galaxy shirt, either. His dexterous flick against Toronto FC was more difficult to pull off and equally as Zlatan as the volley. If not for Ibrahimovic’s goals, the Galaxy would’ve been out of playoff contention already. LA is currently a point behind Real Salt Lake with two games left. The Galaxy’s inability to protect a lead put it in this position. That weakness struck again in Kansas City as the team failed to fully capitalize on RSL’s 4-1 defeat to the Portland Timbers. Ibrahimovic’s 21 goals and nine assists papers a lot of cracks in the Galaxy’s squad, namely it’s defensive deficiencies and lackluster play from it’s fellow designated players (ahem, Giovani dos Santos).

Though it’s great to see Rooney and Ibrahimovic exceed expectations, I’m still not confident enough to say these guys will be clubs’ respective saviors in the future. DC United and the LA Galaxy still probably need to rebuild (especially LA), and these two just prolong that process. At their advanced ages, there’s no telling when the sharp decline is going to happen — or happen again, rather, seeing their drop in form is what brought them to MLS. Not to mention, you never know when the aging DP will just decide to hang up the cleats. Ibrahimovic might not even play beyond this season. For now, however, the pair is proving MLS hasn’t outgrown the pre-retiree European star just yet.