The LA Galaxy are no strangers to making star acquisitions, but their most recent addition, playmaker Riqui Puig, 23, who is a product of Barcelona’s renowned youth program La Masia, deviates from the stereotype of aging legends in the latter stages of their careers.
Before recently, Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney lacked the players to execute his favored possession-based style, which places a special emphasis on midfield control and creativity. But the arrival of Puig, 30-year-old Uruguayan holding midfielder Gaston Brugman, and another Galaxy player, Mark Delgado, has given the team a fresh look in possession and propelled them into the MLS Cup playoffs. Despite playing quietly, Brugman has been essential to the Galaxy’s midfield balance. Puig, on the other hand, is virtually invisible.
The Spanish player is animated on the field. Riqui Puig moves around midfield rapidly and plays with excellent endurance. He constantly looks for the ball, and when he is in the opponent’s half of the field, his passes can frequently penetrate defensive lines.
Vanney on Puig performance: “He’s obviously extremely talented,”
“That’s the foundation of anything that a good player can do to be effective. He’s talented, he’s a smart player. He has a wonderful feel for the game.”
Since making his Galaxy debut on August 20, Puig has had an effect. He has three goals and five assists in ten starts and eleven overall outings. Puig leads MLS in passes attempted (735), passes completed (670), and successful passes that conclude in the final third from August 28 through October 15, according to statistics given by the Galaxy (230). He leads all players at that time with 889 minutes played. He now ranks seventh in the league in that category with eight goals contributed.
Puig, who made his first-team debut in 2019, was seen as one of Barça’s academy’s gems and a potential successor to players like Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández. Puig had more than 40 first-team appearances for Barcelona, but only five of those were starts. Managers Ernesto Valverde, Ronald Koeman, and Hernández ultimately advised Puig to find another team during the summer transfer window.
In the middle of the club’s financial difficulties, Puig said in August to Fox Deportes anchor Rodolfo Landeros that being left off of Barcelona’s summer tour of the United States was “painful” and disappointing.
He said:
“It has been a really hard month because I had never seen Barcelona leave players at the facility and not travel for their tour, perhaps I understand the situation at the club and that they’d want to pressure players to leave, but there are other ways to do that. After seven years at the club…it really hurt.”
