LA Galaxy 2022 Player Postmortem: Mark Delgado

2022 was Mark Delgado’s first season with the LA Galaxy, but the LA-area native was coming home.

Turning pro as a teenager during the 2012 season with Chivas USA, Delgado was one of the few bright spots in that club’s final seasons and after they folded, he moved to Toronto FC for the 2015 season. There, he had a successful tenure with Greg Vanney, capped off with the duo winning a domestic treble in 2017 at TFC and reaching the Concacaf Champions League final in 2018.

Delgado was a key player in Toronto, but he wasn’t a star. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t a good player, but his game was fairly subtle. He’s a fantastic shuttler — the wide midfielders — in a midfield diamond, and even though most teams don’t play a diamond these days, he’s able to put in a lot of work in defense, in attack, and just keep things moving as the game progresses.

That doesn’t draw headlines quite like a prolific goalscorer, obviously, but Delgado is the kind of player whose subtle game provides a platform for the big-time players on the team, and that’s exactly what the Galaxy needed when he arrived.

Here are Delgado’s competitive stats with LA in 2022:

Delgado was a fixture in the lineup, as expected, missing a bit of time with an illness during the season. But otherwise he was in pretty much every game, and he brought a ton of stability to the team with his consistent performances.

The highlight of the season is Delgado’s banger scored in a 1-0 win over Austin FC in May.

This really is a good encapsulation of Delgado’s play here. He stepped into the passing lane, intercepted the ball, had the presence of mind to sneakily tee up a shot few expected him to take, then got it on target and past the goalkeeper.

He’ll never be a goal machine, but Delgado is a consistently good passer, which shows up in his FBref.com scouting report graph. He’s not a playmaker but he’s a smart player who keeps things moving in a good way, and his defense here also looks strong, as expected.

FBref.com

Delgado’s signing won’t bring in headlines but it was a very good move by LA and he showed he’s still very good. He’s likely to stay that way for at least a few more years, considering he’s only 27. Yes, he’s been a pro for a decade, he does admittedly have a lot of miles on his legs, but he’s been remarkably consistent in terms of durability in his career and being under contract for 2023 with the Galaxy is no surprise whatsoever.

Clearly, I’m a big fan of Mark Delgado, but he’s just a good, consistent midfielder who does a little bit of everything and rarely makes mistakes. He’s blossomed into a good pro, and I think he is indeed providing the platform for the Galaxy’s stars to thrive, hopefully back into title contention.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.