Riqui Puig was one of the talented youngsters who came out as a graduate of Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy. He was promoted to the first team in 2018 and stayed there until 2022. With just a few appearances to his name, Puig decided to continue his career elsewhere.
The Spanish midfielder decided to play for Major League Soccer‘s LA Galaxy. Since joining, Puig has been one of the best signings for the club so far. He started his Barcelona career with a lot of promise but failed to make it regularly into the first team. Let’s take a look at how the player is saving his career and why he might be heading to take an even bigger step in his career in the future.
Creativity midfielder
Riqui Puig plays as an attacking midfielder for the LA Galaxy. He is a creative force in the middle of the park for his team and also likes to drift a little towards the left side. The above heatmap also shows the same. Puig is also not a player who likes to make forward runs. Instead, the player likes to dictate the play from outside the penalty box.
One of the biggest abilities of the player is that he has the ability to hold the ball and can even draw fouls in matches. The player has won 86 fouls during his time in the MLS, and this includes a penalty as well. Puig also has a high dribble success rate of 65%, which makes him one of the best players in the league with the ball at his feet.
The main role of the player in the team is to contribute to scoring goals. Riqui Puig provided two assists last season and added four more in the current campaign. Once again, most of the play has been dictated from the centre of the park. The shot assist map above clearly shows that Puig tries to find the right pass at the right time.
His passing accuracy in both campaigns was around 90%. The midfielder averages more than three passes to the penalty box per 90 minutes and finds a teammate with at least two passes.
Goal contribution
Riqui Puig is not a regular goal scorer at the club. He provided additional strength to the team, as the player has the ability to strike some blows from outside the penalty box.
In 2022, he had less game time and attempted 31 shots with a 48% accuracy rate. Most of the shot attempts came from outside the penalty box.
This season, he has made 71 attempts, and the accuracy rate has been 41%. Once again, the player has tried his luck with long rangers.
Riqui Puig is still 24 and has plenty of years ahead. He will look to score more and help his side to titles. The player might come back to Europe.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
