Lionel Messi isn’t the only former Barcelona star who wears the number 10 shirt in Major League Soccer. Indeed, Riqui Puig also fell into this category after choosing to change jersey number for the start of the 2024 season. He is, after all, the player around which the LA Galaxy revolves as a team – he might as well have a shirt number that reflects it.
By Graham Ruthven
Of course, Puig is a different sort of number 10 to Messi. While Messi is primarily on the pitch to score goals, Puig is most effective in a slightly deeper role where he can influence possession play the most. On his day, he is the best midfielder in MLS. The problem is those days haven’t been frequent enough for the Galaxy.
To date, Puig hasn’t been set up to succeed in California. 2023 was a messy season for the LA Galaxy as they missed out on the play-offs for the fifth time in seven years. While the Galaxy might be the most successful franchise in league history, they have been surpassed in recent years by more ambitious rivals with a better front office.
The Galaxy conceded more goals than any other team in MLS last season. Their defence was porous and their goalkeeper – Jonathan Bond – was statistically the worst in the league. On top of this, Douglas Costa and Javier Hernández were limited by injury (and age), giving Puig far too much to do on his own.
Off the field, fans made their anger known over the running of the club. Matches were boycotted and a general sense of unrest seeped into the insipid performances on the pitch. From these protests, though, came change. LA Galaxy president Chris Klein was fired with technical director Jovan Kirovski also let go.
Will Kuntz has been elevated to the general manager position. Kuntz was an important member of the Los Angeles FC front office that is widely considered one of the best front offices in MLS and has been brought in to provide fresh ideas. The Galaxy are making moves to put the last few years of failure behind them.
It’s still early days, but the 2024 season promises to be a more positive one for the Galaxy who have started their campaign with two impressive results – a draw against Messi’s Inter Miami and a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in the Cali Clásico. No trophies are handed out after two matches, but there are encouraging signs.
Joseph Paintsil has made a big difference. Signed from Genk in Belgium for $9m, the Ghanian has given the LA Galaxy the wide threat they have lacked for years. He has electrified the matches against Inter Miami and San Jose, scoring a stunner in the latter. Galaxy fans can expect more of those moments from Paintsil this season.
Puig needs players like Paintsil to play his best football. He needs an outlet for his creativity and the arrival of the Ghanian winger for the 2024 season has given him this. The LA Galaxy also have Brazilian winger Gabriel Pec (signed from Vasco da Gama in the off-season) to integrate into their starting lineup.
Vanney favours a possession-orientated approach, but has compromised his footballing principles to point his team in a new direction. The LA Galaxy’s squad is better suited to playing a more transition-heavy, even counter-attacking style of play with their defensive line in a low block and Puig harnessed as a deep-lying playmaker.
This was an approach that very nearly produced a victory over Inter Miami and it provided a solid basis for the Cali Clasico win over San Jose too. It might be too early to claim the LA Galaxy are back, but they have certainly established themselves as one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the league.
When Puig signed for the Galaxy, Vanney compared his arrival to that of Sebastian Giovinco’s at Toronto FC. Giovinco went on to become a league legend and an MLS Cup winner. That sort of glory has evaded Puig so far, but he might finally have the platform to prove himself as the best player in his position anywhere in MLS.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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