CARSON, Calif. – Giovani dos Santos is in the best form of his life and the vibrant Mexican striker knows it, too.
Dos Santos notched a brace in the Galaxy’s 4-2 victory over Orlando City SC on Sunday in yet another dynamic performance. Over the last eight days, Dos Santos has scored five goals and three assists helping the Galaxy earn seven points and move into sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.
The 27-year-old Mexican international is the leader in goals scored for the Galaxy with 14 and is tied with Steven Gerrard with 11 assists on the year. After once again terrorizing an opposing defense, Dos Santos couldn’t help but admire his form.
“I feel like I am in the best moment of my career, I’ve never felt this way,” Dos Santos told reporters. “I feel very good; my finishing is good. The team is doing good so I feel great right now.”
Part of Dos Santos’ surge is owed to the number of games that the 27-year-old has played over the course of the 2016 campaign. Having played 25 games this season, Dos Santos is just two matches away from tying his single-season club appearance record which he set during the 2012-13 season with Spanish side Real Mallorca.
With Dos Santos earning valuable minutes in Los Angeles, Galaxy boss Bruce Arena believes his striker is finally getting a chance to show just what he can do.
“As heralded as he was and is, he has not played on a regular basis in his club careers. Now he’s a year in and this season is probably the fullest season he’s had in his career. This season is probably the fullest season he’s had in his career,” Arena told reporters. “And you can see that he’s now getting fitter, getting more experienced, understanding this league and understanding the things that he needs to do to make himself a better player and also make our team a better team. And you can see that happening. He has 14 goals now. For that position, that’s pretty good. In that position, strikers usually score that many goals, and he’s not a striker. It’s pretty good stuff.”
And Arena wasn’t the only one impressed with Dos Santos’ play.
“Giovani is playing very well the last few weeks,” Jelle Van Damme, who assisted on one of Dos Santos’ two goals, said. “I saw the game on Wednesday, and he was playing incredible. I think he played even better Wednesday than he did today. Gio is a great player, and I think he knows as well, if he works his ass off, you deserve what you get. He’s doing great.”
If Dos Santos can continue his scorching form, the Mexican international is confident that he can lead Los Angeles up the Western Conference standings—and even make a push for the Supporters’ Shield.
“We want to win everything,” Dos Santos said. “Now we have the chance to catch Dallas, and we have to keep working on the same line so hopefully, we can win the Supporters’ Shield.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
