Gastón Brugman becomes latest injury blow for LA Galaxy

The Uruguayan midfielder will miss the rest of 2023 after suffering a knee injury, joining Javier Hernandez and Martín Cáceres on the sideline.

Gastón Brugman suffers major knee injury

Gastón Brugman, a midfielder for the Los Angeles Galaxy, will miss the rest of the MLS season due to injury.

The 30-year-old suffered a knee injury in the Galaxy’s last Leagues Cup match against Club León of Liga MX. Brugman had surgery to repair a damaged meniscus in his left knee and will be out until the end of 2023, despite the treatment proceeding well.

Since joining from Parma last summer, Brugman has been a fixture in midfield, playing alongside Riqui Puig and Mark Delgado. The injury was a fluke incident, sustained in a “non-contact kind of moment” versus León, according to Galaxay head coach Gregg Vanney.

Unfortunately, we lose an important player in a situation that isn’t much of a situation,” Vanney explained.

“It’s one of these scenarios where for sure in the short-term it’s just the next guy has to step in and fulfil the responsibilities of the position, but in the way that that player plays the position,” the Galaxy head coach continued.

“He doesn’t need to be Gastón, he doesn’t need to do anything other than just be himself and trust the system and trust what we’re doing.”

Brugman joins Hernandez and Cáceres on the sideline

The 2023 season has not gone well for five-time MLS Cup winners LA Galaxy and they currently sit 13th, second from bottom, in the Western Conference. The team has undoubtedly underperformed but Vanney has been beset by major injuries to key players.

At the start of June Mexican forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez tore his ACL and is expected to be out for the remainder of the season. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker was the team’s most potent attacking threat and they have struggled for goals in his absence.

Se acaba la temporada para Chicharito por rotura de ligamento cruzado

The loss of Hernandez was followed swiftly by another knee injury, this time to experienced defender Martín Cáceres. The 36-year-old, who played for the likes of Barcelona, Juventus and Sevilla in Europe, was also forced to undergo surgery after suffering an avulsion fracture to his left knee. He, too, is unlikely to feature again this season.

After their group stage exit in the Leagues Cup Galaxy fans may have hoped that the extra time on the training ground would spark a mid-season MLS revival. But with the team still seven points adrift of the playoffs and without three key players, the Galaxy still have a lot of work to do if they are to make it to the post season.

After posting an injury update on Twitch, the Los Angeles Galaxy have issued a warning to Javier Hernandez.

On Wednesday, LA Galaxy coach Greg Vanney chastised Javier Hernandez after the star striker revealed his injury status ahead of the team’s opening encounter of the season on Saturday.

During a Twitch live stream, Hernandez addressed his availability for the Galaxy’s upcoming game, saying, “Am I going to play in Dallas? I’m still recovering from my injuries, so no. I’ll be gone for another 2 to 5 weeks since we have to be very careful with the recuperation to avoid relapses.”

That didn’t sit well with Vanney, who said while it wasn’t earth shattering that Hernandez had shared the extent of a hamstring injury he picked up in preseason, it wasn’t ideal either.

“I think at the end of the day, players sometimes get out in front of it and want to let fans and other people know how they’re doing,” Vanney said at a press conference. “But ultimately there is a way and a time and a place to give that, because it’s also about the opposition, game management, game prep, all those kinds of things.

“It’s not earth shattering in this situation, but in different circumstances these things could be very important information that you give to the other team or the opposition that you don’t necessarily want to be doing.”

The Galaxy were set to kick off the regular season on Feb. 25 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena versus MLS champions LAFC, but that game was pushed back to July 4 owing to severe weather in southern California during the previous week.

Last season, Hernandez scored 18 goals in 32 regular-season games for the Galaxy, who made the playoffs and won their first game before losing in the quarterfinals to crosstown rivals and eventual Cup champions LAFC.