Can the Galaxy successfully navigate another season without Riqui Puig?

Galaxy will begin the new season the same way we ended the old one – with Riqui Puig on the side of the road after knee surgery. This is a big problem because Puig is the closest thing to an irreplaceable MLS player. And with training camp starting in a couple of weeks, the team has little time to try to replace him.

In 2024, Puig's last time on the field, he led the league in touches and assists and set career highs in goals (13) and assists (15). With him leading the attack, the Galaxy set a record of four players scoring 10 or more times en route to their sixth MLS title. It was one of the best seasons in franchise history.

In 2025, without Pooch, the only record in the Galaxy will be set. were for futilitystarting the season without a win in their first 16 league matches and finishing with just seven wins, a franchise low for the entire season. No reigning MLS Cup champion has fared so poorly.

The contrast is so stark because Puig doesn't just define the team's style of play; He is how the team plays. He is a defender and point guard. His speed, dribbling and passing ability keep the Galaxy moving forward, opening up space for opportunities for his teammates. He is that rare player who truly makes everyone around him better.

Even Lionel Messi is not as important to his team as Pooch is to the Galaxy.

“The game changes when Ricky is on the field,” coach Greg Vanney said.

Puig tore the ACL in his left knee for the first time in the Western Conference Finals in 2024, assisting on the only goal of the game since the injury. The Galaxy initially thought he would return by late summer, in time for the playoffs. That's why they felt comfortable trading Marc Delgado and Gaston Brugman, the two most likely replacements for Puig, last winter, largely to ensure their salaries would fit within the MLS salary cap.

Meanwhile, plans were made to make Marco Reus the team's midfield maestro. But Reus had injury problems and didn't start an MLS game until early May. By then, the Galaxy had lost their first 10 matches.

Reus continued to play well at times, but by then the season was effectively over. There would be no playoffs, so the Galaxy didn't feel the need to rush Puig back.

This winter, the team's entire offseason preparation was based on Puig's return, both on and off the field.

Off the field, the Galaxy produced a multi-part documentary called Riqui Puig's Road to Recovery and used his return to boost ticket sales. On the field, believing the midfield was already complete, general manager Will Kuntz added two top defensemen to the team in Jakob Glesnes and Justin Haak, giving them more than $2 million in salary.

But then, one day of the new year, Puig and his team found out that he need another operation and he will have to skip the second season, throwing all the plans of the Galaxy in the trash.

The Galaxy never blamed Puig's absence for their problems last season, but they didn't have to. It was obvious. And if they couldn't replace the irreplaceables last season, how confident should anyone be that they can do so this season?

The team's biggest mistake last year was not planning for Puig's absence. The team entered the winter knowing he would miss most of the season and did not act accordingly. They even kept Puig's $5.8 million salary and roster spot in hopes he would play someday.

Don't expect them to make the same mistakes this time. Instead, the Galaxy will almost certainly place him on the season-ending injured list, opening up a DP spot and negating the cap hit his salary takes.

The good news, if there is one, is that Vanney believes the Galaxy finally figured out how to play without Puig last year. After losing their first 16 MLS games, the Galaxy went 7-6-5 in the league and finished third in the Leagues Cup, earning a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

“By the end of the year, we beat MLS playoff teams and the best teams in Mexico,” Vanney said. “We realized how this group could succeed without the missing pieces.”

Now they will have to do it again.

What exactly happened to Puig is not specified. He had been in rehabilitation for over a year when he returned home to Barcelona for the holidays. Puig trained with the team last fall and continued training in Spain. Recovery seemed to be going well.

But something—a quick movement or an erratic cut—sent Puig back to the doctor, and a day later he underwent a second operation.

ACL revision surgeries (multiple procedures) are not uncommon, with some studies suggesting they are needed in 10–20% of cases, especially for athletes who play so-called pivot sports such as soccer. Most often, a second operation is required because the first graft has ruptured again.

Christen PressThe two-time world champion tore a ligament in her right knee eight games into her first season with the City of Angels and required four surgeries to repair the damage. She made just three more appearances over the next three and a half seasons before retiring.

But Press was 33 when she was injured. Puchu is 26 years old. And while that suggests the chances of a full recovery are high, Puig's age also adds to the urgency of the situation, as the injury will now take two years off his career when he was in his prime.

In another season like 2024, Puig, who played 42 games over four seasons with Barcelona, ​​could be planning a return to Europe or at least another big payday in MLS. Now he won't play another game until he's 27 and in the final year of his contract, when the pressure to prove he's healthy and still a dynamic game-changer will be enormous.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy is again trying to replace the irreplaceable.

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