The MLS Cup is a chance for a team’s stars to shine their brightest, but when the LA Galaxy host the New York Red Bulls in MLS’s biggest match on Saturday, they will be without their biggest star at center are in Riqui Puig. During the Galaxy’s 1–0 win over the Seattle Sounders, Puig tore his ACL and played on one leg for the remainder of the match. While it was a show of courage to get through the game, Gregg Vanney and the Galaxy now have to figure out how to create chances.
Puig had 13 goals and 15 assists on the season before stepping things up with four goals and three assists in the MLS Cup Playoffs prior to his injury. At the center of it all, he is an irreplaceable presence, but one that Vanney will be without for only the sixth time this season.
Without Puig, during five games of the regular season, the Galaxy managed to win three of the games by scoring eight goals and conceding four goals, but this challenge is different because of the press the Red Bulls employ, something Puig uses can make of it, by a counter-attack. The closest team to the Red Bulls that the Galaxy faced without Puig was St. Louis City SC and that was the only loss without their talisman.
“Riqui is, first and foremost, the ultimate competitor. He wants to win, he wants to compete, he wants to play, he wants to influence the game and he wants responsibility on the pitch,” Vanney said of Puig’s impact. “He runs the team in many ways. If you look at the statistics, on any given day he will probably have touched the ball 120 to 140 times and he will lead the team in touches by a good margin because he wants to win and he wants win.” to influence the game.
“We will certainly miss that on the attacking side as someone who can change the pace of the game in this way. Every game at some point can be the game that changes the game when you have a guy like Riqui because of his ability to do all kinds of to make plays and do things like that. We will miss him on the defensive side. He is above all someone who is an intelligent defender in terms of his position, but above all he is someone who is what the opposition has to take into account. the transition because the The team is so good at transitioning through him, so they have to take Riqui into account when they have the ball.”
When you put all that together, it’s clear how difficult it would be to replace Puig and the only player who could be capable of doing so is also out of injury in Marco Reus. The former Borussia Dortmund man, who joins the Galaxy mid-season, has not been able to do much for the team and is currently struggling with a groin injury.
The Galaxy will give Reus every opportunity to contribute in this match as his attacking prowess could be a game-changer, similar to Gareth Bale scoring the crucial goal to level the match for Los Angeles FC in their MLS Cup victory in 2022. Big matches promise big players and Reus, even at 35, still falls into that category.
Without Reus, Marco Delgado, who was benched against the Sounders, would be the next man up. Usually he is called upon to take charge in deeper areas of the pitch, it’s a bit of a different role for him, but being someone who played for Vanney when he was head coach of Toronto FC, this duo is able to to get the best out of each other. no matter the occasion.
It is this understanding and flexibility that has gotten the Galaxy to this point in the season, as even without Puig the Red Bulls will have to deal with Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec and Dejan Joveljic, all of whom are formidable attackers in their own right. Vanney will be preparing his team for this moment and with Puig gone, there is also the element of the Galaxy wanting to take home the trophy for their man.
“We’ve got to move forward, the game doesn’t stop for anyone and we’ve just got to figure it out and you know that’s Greg [Vanney’s] We’ll see how that goes, but we will definitely miss Riqui,” Delgado said. “Our hearts are with him and it gives us another reason to go out and give everything for him.”
These moments can bring a team together and it’s clear the Galaxy trusts Vanney’s ideas. Of course, the Red Bulls will do everything they can to combat that, but all the Galaxy can do is focus on their game and do their best to bring home a trophy for Puig.
LA Galaxy predicted XI: John McCarthy, John Nelson, Maya Yoshida, Carlos Garces, Miki Yamane, Edwin Cerrillo, Gaston Brugman, Marco Delgado, Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec, Dejan Joveljic
How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday December 7 | Time: 4:00 PM ET
- Location: Dignity Health Sporting Park – Carson, California
- TV: Fox | Live stream: Fubo TV (Try for free)
- Chances: LA Milky Way -140; Sign +400; New York Red Bulls +340