Written By: Wendy Pintor
Meanwhile, LA Galaxy is choosing a perfect playlist for the team, when will LA Galaxy give us the perfect soccer that was promised when signing former Barcelona Midfielder Riqui Puig and even the Legend himself, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández.
Making things more difficult for themselves, with an unfortunate away game after last weekend’s finally great effort to change things for the better for the team went missing, Orlando City SC (4-3-2, 14 points)took a 2-0 shutout victory over the LA Galaxy (1-5-3, 6 points) on Saturday night at Exploria Stadium. Ercan Kara and Facundo Torres each find the back of the net on the night, both scoring for the second time in all competitions this season
Following a goal that was waved off in the 33rd minute for a handball, allowing LA Galaxy to persist but the Lions found the back of the net four minutes later thanks to a combination from Antonio Carlos and Mikey Halliday. The assist served as the second in as many games for the former and the first of his professional career. The Lions would double their advantage shortly after the halftime break, this time with all three of their Designated Players combining for a Torres goal.
And although Orlando had a more diverse new team, LA Galaxy’s, Vanney did shift to something resembling a 3-5-2 over the weekend in his team’s 2-0 home win over Austin FC.
But this weekend Puig was out leaving the ball deep on the left side and was responsible for a little too much on the defensive end last week with Austin FC before scoring. However, that formation tweak could be a sign of Vanney’s willingness to bend to the needs of his roster.
“We’re looking to change the midfield, add more experience, get someone who is good for the team in all aspects of the game, it is not going to happen overnight because of summer and teams already moving forward in their leagues and tournaments but we are looking to bring that someone to the team,” Vanney said post-game
Puig will always drop deep, leaving him to manage attacks, and will always have his Barcelona, positional play, 4-3-3 instincts. But it’s time for his role with the Galaxy to evolve. If it doesn’t, this season may go down as a wasted year in a narrow trophy window for him and the team– and no amount of remarkable through balls can paper over that.
Now really looking at Puig’s excellence in a historical context, the Spanish midfielder is on pace to go down as the best central midfielder in MLS’s modern era based on American Soccer Analysis’ goals added metric. But his poor defending has become more noticeable that it’s even a trend within the team.
For instance, let’s take the Carlos Vela goal in the latest El Trafico as an example. The Galaxy lose the ball in the center circle, which allows Denis Bauanga to drive right into their half of the field. As Bouanga strides forward, Puig starts half-heartedly jogging back. After a few more seconds, Puig is still yet to involve himself in the play. Eventually, Carlos Vela puts the ball into the back of the Galaxy’s net. Puig never even breaks a sweat.
Even if Puig is the only player to have two seasons ranked in the top 10. Predictably, the vast majority of the 23-year-old’s value in ASA’s G+ metric (which is designed to measure a player’s on-ball contribution, comes from his passing. ) but in short, the eye test isn’t deceiving. He is truly one of the best players to ever set foot in MLS. But is he not enough for Galaxy and “Chicharito”
“At that moment, I started to look at it in a different way, from another perspective. I realized that I had achieved more things than I had imagined, but I kept feeling an emptiness, as though I needed something.“That was the first turning point in discovering that I am not just about my goals, my clothes, or my name, it was the start of a more spiritual and philosophical path.” Javier “ Chicacharito” Hernández
It could be possible to say that “ something “ is not working in the team, whether that may be an outsider’s outlook or not it’s clear to say something is not right, and more changes are coming, and even if they bring more chaos or not how much more will this affect the players on the field, and the stressed out fans having to see LA Galaxy unfolding to their worst season in history.
LA Galaxy returns to the field again to take on the Seattle Sounders, Wednesday, May 10th in the round of 32 as they will gradually be attempting to advance to the Open Cup Round of 16 for the first time since 2017 when they were bounced by the San Jose Earthquakes. They enter this match with an all-time Open Cup record of 24-6-5 and are trying to become the first MLS team to win the tournament five times. So Yes this could mean another doomsday for LA’s Galaxy after last night’s 2-0 performance.
Dating back to their first U.S. Open Cup match in 1999, the LA Galaxy hold an all-time record of 35-18-1 in the competition and have been crowned champions twice (2001 and 2005). 2023 marks the 108th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, which began in 1913 and is the oldest national soccer competition in the United States.
*Photo courtesy of Andres Isaza*
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