It was only about a month ago that there was a growing consensus that Pedro de la Vega might not work out. After starting the season reasonably strong, he had seen his place in the depth chart diminish to the point that he didn’t even play in the Seattle Sounders final Club World Cup match against Paris Saint-Germain.
Shortly after that, he made the momentous decision to cut his beautiful hair and don a more workmanlike ‘do. Around the same time, Brian Schmetzer finally gave him a look on the left side.
It’s impossible to say which of those two things had the bigger impact, but either way he’s been on quite a tear ever since. Over his five games, de la Vega has four goals and an assist, nearly doubling his goal-contributions for the year.
More than the actual goals and assists, de la Vega just looks like a more confident player. That was never more obvious than his two-goal performance against Cruz Azul, which included a goal that will likely be nominated for a Puskás Award.
For him to fully make good on his promise, de la Vega will need to maintain this level but either way he has shown that he’s at least capable of perform at a game-breaking level.
In this week’s tactical short, we showcase what has made him so good.
