Beyond the Spotlight: Dejan Joveljić is key to the LA Galaxy attack reaching its ceiling
The Serbian striker is making his biggest impact at the business end of the season. Examining why he's key to LA's electric attack this season.
The LA Galaxy’s “Killa P’s” of Gabriel Pec, Riqui Puig, and Joseph Paintsil have rightfully taken a lot of the spotlight this season - but their success has been elevated by the improved play of Dejan Joveljić .
Coming to the season, Joveljić was expected to bounce back from his disappointing 2023 campaign. For the first since joining LA, he was the clear-cut starter and not in the shadow of Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
2024 has proved to be the bounce-back season where his quality is displayed in this electric LA Galaxy attack. He allows the front line to be at their best - they’ll score on any team with all four playing.
The 25-year-old Serbian is in the midst of the best season of his LA Galaxy career, with 15 goals and five assists in 27 MLS appearances. He scored his 15th MLS goal to give the LA Galaxy a 2-1 win over Austin FC on Saturday night.
Joveljić will spend the international break with the Serbian National Team. His impressive scoring performances and growth as a forward continue to put him on the radar of his national team. He currently has six international appearances for Serbia, the last coming in July 2023.
I’ll dive into the film and data to highlight why Joveljić is an elite striker in MLS and how he’s positively impacting the attack.
Off-the-Ball Movement
A striker must know how to take advantage of space off the ball to give other players the chance to be goal-dangerous. All strikers hold gravity and need to know how to easily drag defenders out of space.
Take a look at this clip where Joveljić gives Pec a path toward the goal to get a good shot on goal. The gravity of the Serbian striker is in full display, giving Pec a lane to run through. It would’ve been a great goal that Joveljić played a major role in creating.
These runs also open up time and space for players to finish. In the Galaxy’s 3-1 win in Colorado, Joveljic is key to the creation of Puig’s game-winning goal.
In the clip, you’ll see the threat of Joveljić’s overlapping run causes the Rapids defender to cover the Serbian and giving Puig enough space and time to place the ball into the bottom of the net.
“Dejan (Joveljić) made a great run that kind of froze the center back when Riqui cut back to the inside and passes it to the post. There's movement by the group of them that makes the decision-making a little bit easier for Riqui but obviously what he's able to do in terms of changing the speed of the game,” said Vanney following this match in Colorado.
The Galaxy has a front four that can punish every team in the league. Joveljić's ability to use his gravity and understanding of space will allow him to get in good positions from which the wingers and Puig can use to run into space.
He doesn’t score here, but the ball is put in a dangerous position, leading to a goal for LA. His gravity is on display as he attacks three defenders towards him.
Improved Hold-Up Play
With wingers like Pec and Paintsil, Joveljic has spent this season learning their tendencies and how they like to receive the ball. Their constant runs in behind require good hold-up play in order to set up offense sets that lead to dangerous chances.
Since the start of preseason, Vanney has mentioned that Joveljić needs to have good hold-up play to get the Galaxy offense in a groove. Looking at his play now, Vanney must be beaming seeing his striker develop into the right striker archetype.
In this clip, Joveljić gives Reus a quick pass as the Galaxy enters the final third. Joveljić gets the ball back and allows the runs of his teammates to develop, and then plays the right pass to Pec.
You see this type of decision-making from Joveljić often - he waits for the runs to appear and can play the ball into Pec or Paintsil as their driving forward.
Lately, the Galaxy has been using the “dummy” to get the ball into players that the opponent wasn’t expecting to get the ball.
In this clip, Joveljić lets the ball go through him and into the feet of Paitsil, who has a wide-open net. The finish isn’t there, but this situation allowed the best look at the goal. Unfortunate this wasn’t a goal, as the build-play from this attacking sequence was phenomenal
A quality striker impacts the game without the ball- Joveljić is doing that phenomenally. It goes under the radar, but the Galaxy will be happy to have their silent killer impacting playoff games in November.
Efficient Scorer
What matters most about a no. 9 is putting the ball into the back of the net. It’s how these players will be ultimately judged and determine if they add value to a team.
Joveljic’s finishing ability is top-notch in MLS. Not only can he poach, but he also has individual moments of brilliance in his goals. Look no further at his two goals against LAFC.
His first was a smart cut to create space for himself to finish. The second one was a touch on a shot that redirected the ball into the back of the net. He’s not a one-dimensional striker by any means.
Joveljić ranks in the 94th percentile among MLS strikers in shot-on-target percentage per 90 with (51.9%). With his shots finding the target often, it’s no surprise his xG numbers are high, with 0.73 per 90 (97th percentile among MLS strikers).
The most impressive stat is his Non-Penalty xG per shot - the xG he records during open-play attacks. His 0.25 per 90 is in the 99th percentile; this indicates he’s taking shots in high-quality areas (inside the box closer to the goal) compared to low-quality shots (outside the box).
This is a testament to Joveljić being in good positions to shoot and that he’s befitting from LA’s wingers feeding him the ball.
The data and the eye test love Joveljić. He’s become a key stone player to have the Galaxy attack reach and extend its ceiling. He’s well deserving of his call-up with Serbian and deserves his praises for helping the Galaxy attack remain one of the best all season long.