Puig cut back move versus the San Jose Earthquakes is something to see. A must watch.
Puig likes to run, or at least it seems that way, as he’s constantly doing it for the LA Galaxy. Puig certainly loves to play football. That’s clear. There’s always a big smile on his face. And a bigger smile when he scores a goal like this one in the video below.
Puig pulls off a clever cut back of the ball, perhaps you might call it a backwards Cruyff move, that gives him space to strike the ball.
What’s amazing is he is running at a full sprint to get into the attack and call for the ball. Then, to do a backwards cut back or chopping of the ball and score.
The San Jose Earthquakes defenders are just too late on this play. They try to converge on Puig but he has a trick up his sleeve that they don’t know. This Cruyff backwards cut back move with the inside of his foot to give him more space.
Additionally, Puig then goes a step further, as he tricks the defender and keeper. Smartly, Puig strikes the ball back across his body at an angle to score. I think the ball even goes through the defender’s legs.
With all of Puig’s soccer skills it is no wonder he is up there in the MLS in terms of who is fouled the most often. Only his teammate Joseph Paintsil is fouled more, at 27 times so far this season. For Puig it is 26 times, second in the league overall after Paintsil.
What is incredible about Puig is his size. He is 5 foot 7 inches tall and weighs just 123 pounds. Messi, who is small, his nickname is the atomic flea, weighs 148.
It is of course what makes soccer such a great sport. Size doesn’t factor in like in most other sports. What is important is how you read the game. It’s your skill level on the soccer ball, and just the desire to win and compete. Which Puig has in excess.
Above all, what stands out the most about Puig is his passing ability, which is underscored by his awareness – knowing what to do next before the ball comes. His head is also up and on a swivel. It is no wonder plays with this awareness since he is a graduate of Barcelona’s La Maria.
Unsurprisingly, since Puig grew up in the Barcelona system, it is no wonder that Puig has completed over 80 percent of his passes so far this season. Who is behind Puig in passing accuracy? Sergio Busquets of Inter Miami, who has an accuracy percentage of an incredible 89.8, but has passed the ball around 200 times less than Puig.
Moreover, Puig has scored three goals and four assists across nine games. It really does seem like it’s Puig’s tirelessness and joy to play that gets him in those right spots on the field to create and score chances.
What’s funny is Puig is on a path to compete with his former Barcelona teammate, Lionel Messi, for MLS league MVP. It is early but still quite something to see those two players in a potential head to head battle for the league’s best footballer.
Fortunately for the LA Galaxy and the MLS as a whole, it appears that Puig will sign a contract extension with the LA Galaxy that sees him playing beyond the 2025 season.