Despite growing up in the Barcelona system, Riqui Puig possesses skills that favor a counterattacking setup. On another team, the dreams of transition coaches like Ben Olson or Pablo Mastroeni would gush with visions of Puig beating two or three defenders off the dribble.
They would put their money into speedy and powerful world class players that score in transition in the mold of Michail Antonio or Mo Salah. Because Puig can launch a sustainable transition from anywhere on the field, coaches could defend with nine, knowing that Puig will break them out on the first or second pass.
Most professional players possess tight control at a moderate pace. Puig can wiggle out of tight spots while sprinting, but his mates must present him with passing options. The game becomes a track meet when Puig advances the ball. He will thrive surrounded by well-timed runs behind a desperately retreating defense. If those players can finish—game over.
Greg Vanney, however, faces something of a nightmare. With every tactical bone in his body, he favors controlling the game with a patient possession-based approach. His system starts with positional play that creates overloads in the midfield and attacking third. When it works well, his team more than triples the scoring chances of their opponent.
Patience is not a Puig virtue. When he breaks into space, he expects his teammates to keep pace. When they cannot keep up, his Barca training teaches him to find a late runner, which rarely happens on the Galaxy. As frustration builds he attempts a hero pass. The defense cuts it out or wins it from the surprised attacker, creating a numbers-up counterattack for the opponent.
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Vanney must devise a tactical setup that will score goals without spending fifty percent of the game managing numbers-down counterattacks. He has yet to do it with Puig on the field. Newly acquired players always talk about limiting mistakes without realizing that mistakes normally decide outcomes in MLS because the teams are so evenly matched.
Possession teams like Manchester City rely on the superior athletic, technical, and tactical abilities of their players to create sustained pressure on the opponent’s goal. They control the game as much by superiority as their game management. Games between evenly matched teams depend upon trusting teammates, working for each other, and committing fewer mistakes than their opponents.
Rarely does one team control a whole game in MLS, and without going into statistics, teams overemphasizing possession lose more often than they win. In 2023 the Galaxy failed to make the playoff while out-possessing and out-chancing their opponents.
How can Vanney maximize the unique talents of Puig without abandoning his tactical principles? Several factors will determine his success or failure.
When the opportunities present themselves anywhere on the field, the Galaxy must attack together quickly. With Puig running with the ball at pace, one attacker must threaten the back line forcing them to run at their own goal. Only Tyler Boyd did this with any consistency. Puig, on the break, must discipline himself to make passes only when the defense retreats.
A secondary attacker must tarry just a moment to support the attack with a late run, maybe even looping behind the attacking Puig. Alternatively, the attacker can set up a one-two with Puig, who thrives in those situations. The center forward or a winger can play this role.
The defense must push up quickly, forcing the opposition attackers to retreat to their own goal. Even players in an offside position must be forced to retreat. A coordinated rush forward by the back six players can accomplish this. If they can stay connected to Puig, they can also join with a late run to the top of the box.
When Puig makes the pass or encounters a defender, the defensive six must hold and prepare to retreat, accounting for every opposing player, behind them and in front of them. If the ball turns over, every opponent must be immediately contained as the defense retreats as a single unit.
Vanney must add transition attacks to his possession-based system. If the attack breaks down, the Galaxy must maintain possession. Puig must resist the urge to attempt a hero pass. By playing to a connector, like Mark Delgado or Gaston Brugman, the Galaxy can open up some width and establish their possession game.
Whenever the opponent can turn and face them, the Galaxy must revert to possession. Whenever they find themselves numbers down, they must peg a fan sitting on the seventeenth row with their clearance. Emergency defending means the Galaxy failed in at least two of these objectives.
Puig will not effectively defend, so he must be constantly hunting outlet positions whenever the Galaxy defend. Ideally, he will be already on the move when he receives a pass, but his teammates must assume he will beat at least one defender. If the Galaxy can advance as a unit on the break, consistently threaten the space behind the defense, and coordinate late runs, they can revert to a possession game if the attack breaks down.
If Vanney finds a way to use him effectively, Puig can change the tactics of the opponent. It would be ideal for him to play until the sixtieth minute before retiring for the evening with the game already decided. Unless the Galaxy incorporate team-supported counterattacks, Puig will dazzle in moments, but his unique abilities will not benefit the team enough to force a change in opposition tactics. How long Vanney survives as Galaxy coach depends in part upon solving the Puig puzzle.