The MLS Cup is a preview for a team’s stars to shine their brightest, but if the LA Galaxy host the Pristine York Red Bulls in the biggest game in MLS on Saturday, they will be without their biggest superstar in the medium, Riqui Puig. During the Galaxy’s 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders, Puig tore his ACL and continued to play most of the game on one leg. While it was once a show of courage to put it together all game long, Gregg Vanney and the Galaxy now have to figure out how they can create chances.
Puig had 13 goals and 15 assists during the season before stepping things up with four goals and three assists in the MLS Cup Playoffs before his trauma. At the center of it all, he’s an irreplaceable presence, but Vanney must plan to not be alone during this season’s sixth class.
Without Puig for five games of the normal season, the Galaxy was able to win 3 of which they scored 8 goals and allowed 4 but this challenge is another due to the click that the Red Bulls use, something that Puig is in a position to exploit, eminently a counterattack . The closest team the Galaxy faced without Puig to the Red Bulls was St. Louis Town SC and that was the only loss without their talisman.
“Riqui, above all, is the ultimate competitor. He wants to win, he wants to compete, he wants to play, he wants to impact the game and he wants responsibility on the field,” said Vanney about Puig’s affection. “He drives the team in so many ways, if you look at the stat sheet in any future, he most likely has touched the ball between 120 and 140 times and will dominate the team in touches by an excellent margin as a player.” Because he wants to win and he wants to influence the game.
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“We will surely miss that on the offensive end, as someone who can change the pace of the game like this, and any play at any given moment can be the one that changes the game when you have a guy like Riqui because of his ability to make all kinds of of plays and doing things like that. We’re going to miss him on the defensive end. More than anything, he’s someone who is a smart defender at his position, but more than anything he’s someone who the opposition has to hold accountable in transition because.” The team is very good at transitioning through him, so they have to take Riqui into account when they have the ball.
When you consider all of that, it becomes clear how difficult it could be to replace Puig and the only player who could do so is suffering from trauma in Marco Reus. Joining the Galaxy mid-season, the former Borussia Dortmund player has not been able to do much for the team and has been dealing with groin trauma on a day-to-day basis lately.
The Galaxy will give Reus every expectation to contribute in this match because his attacking prowess can be a deciding factor, just as Gareth Bale scored the decisive goal to level the match for Los Angeles FC in their MLS Cup . triumph in 2022. Weighty fits the name of big game players and Reus, even at 35 years old, still falls into that division.
Without Reus, that’s when Marco Delgado, who was on the bench against the Sounders, will be the last man up. Usually called upon to hit the pace in the deeper pitch boxes, it’s a bit of a special role for him, but as someone who played for Vanney when he was head coach of Toronto FC, this duo is able to get the most efficient out of each alternative. , no matter what the future is.
It is this exercise and versatility that has given the Galaxy experience so far this season, as even without Puig, the Red Bulls will need to do business with Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec and Dejan Joveljic, who are all fearsome attackers in its shape. own right. Vanney can have his team ready for the date and with Puig out, there’s also the part that the Galaxy want to bring home the trophy for their man.
“We’ve got to keep going, the game doesn’t stop for anyone and we’ve just got to figure it out and you know, that’s Greg.” [Vanney’s] work and we’ll see how it goes, but we will definitely miss Riqui,” Delgado said. “Our heart goes out to him and it gives us another reason to go out and give everything for him.”
Those moments can create a combined team, and it’s clear the Galaxy believes in Vanney’s concepts. Of course, the Red Bulls will do everything they can to fight that, but all the Galaxy can do is focus on their competition and do their best to bring home a trophy for Puig.
LA Galaxy predicted XI: John McCarthy, John Nelson, Maya Yoshida, Carlos Garcés, Miki Yamane, Edwin Cerrillo, Gaston Brugman, Marco Delgado, Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec, Dejan Joveljic
The best way to maintain vigilance and probabilities.
- Moment: Saturday December 7 | Week: 4 pm Eastern Time
- Location: Dignity Fitness Transportation Grounds – Carson, California
- TV: Fox | They are living waves: Fubo TV (Aim for the sovereign)
- Odd: Los Angeles Galaxy -140; Draw +400; Pristine Purple York Bulls +340
