The LA Galaxy get ready to face D.C. United after getting a convincing win and hearing some good news about their star player.
Let’s see how the match could shape up and what Riqui Puig’s return to training could mean for the team’s ambitions.
The LA Galaxy are coming off of a fantastic three-nil against the Vancouver Whitecaps, one of the best teams in the league. Their next opponent is D.C. United, one of the league’s worst, in a tumultuous moment.
United have just fired their Head Coach, Troy Lesesne, after giving up a 2 goal lead and losing 5-2 to Nashville SC in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal on July ninth.
The defeat closed a chapter that D.C. United had been looking to close for some time. Legendary American soccer reporter Pablo Maurer revealed that United had been speaking with potential Lesesne replacements all summer.
The lucky candidate that will be taking over the helm in D.C. is René Weiler. The experienced Swiss manager was most recently Sporting Director at Servette FC, where he won their first Swiss Cup in 20 years as head coach in 2024.
Weiler will need to figure out how to bring that winning mentality overseas and sort out United’s play on both sides of the ball, as they’re the league’s second-worst scorers and second-worst defenders.
Even still, the numbers show that they’re technically having a better season than the Galaxy.
They have twice as many wins and seven more points than LA, but their recent form paints a much grimmer picture than the Galaxy’s.
D.C. United hasn’t won a single one of their last five games while going scoreless in their last three league games. They currently sit in twelfth in the Eastern Conference, higher than the Galaxy at 15th, but they also have -22 goal differential, one of only two teams with a worse differential than the LA Galaxy.
It could be a positive for the Galaxy if D.C.’s recent struggles continue on Saturday, July twelfth. LA will feel like they’ll be able to overcome a weaker team after putting in such a great shift against the Whitecaps.
The Galaxy’s 3-0 win over the second-best Western Conference team was easily their most complete performance of the entire season. The defensive unit avoided mistakes and held strong, supported by a great effort from Gabriel Pec and the other attackers. The midfield unit of Edwin Cerillo, Diego Fagundez, and Marco Reus totally dominated the game and created chances at will. Matheus Nascimento scored, Gabriel Pec looked to regain his directness, and Joseph Paintsil scored a brace to secure all three points.
To have done all of that against a top team will have the Galaxy feeling they are more than capable of doing the same against a struggling team like D.C. United.
Which is just as well for the Angelenos as they have essentially run out of room to drop points at home.
The Galaxy’s playoff hopes are essentially over if they fail to win each of their remaining home matches. As broken down in one of our previous pieces, failure to earn all of the remaining possible home points puts even greater pressure on the their road games, which have been even more difficult for the Galaxy this year.
A win against D.C. followed by another against Austin FC would put the Galaxy in a stronger position points-wise. If they can keep up this good form and continue to secure results, the payoff would be a real chance to qualify for and win the playoffs with the help of Riqui Puig.
Puig returned to training for the first time since tearing his ACL in the Western Conference Final back in November on July eighth. While his return to the pitch is still months away, it has put a spring in the Galaxy’s step and could be massively important should they surprise everyone and secure a playoff spot.
An impossible journey can only be completed one step at a time, and for now the LA Galaxy’s next step is to win against D.C. United on Saturday.
PHOTO: Andre Bannis//LAXSportsNation
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