Victor Vazquez returned for his second season with the LA Galaxy in 2022 and in many ways, his contributions shifted a lot. In 2021, the cultured playmaker was LA’s primary attacking midfielder, when he was healthy and available, an issue for the veteran over the years.
But Vazquez is an absolute liability at the defensive side of the ball, and that, his injury record and the hope that maybe this would be the year that Efrain Alvarez took over as the primary playmaker meant that Vazquez receded a bit. In the end, Alvarez very much did not take the step forward to be a starter, but Vazquez was also no longer the first option to start, either, which led the way for Riqui Puig to join up late in the summer.