Ten days ago, you handed down the worst New York City FC player ratings of the 2024 season after an inept loss to Philadelphia Union. That Starting XI averaged an abysmal 3.7, and 10 of the 16 NYCFC players who took the field that night earned their lowest ratings of the year.
Today, we’re publishing your highest ratings of the season. The Starting XI average is a stellar 8.3 after NYCFC’s commanding 1-5 away win over New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena, with four players – Tayvon Gray, Justin Haak, Andrés Perea, and Kevin O’Toole – earning their best numbers this year.
Ask, and you shall receive 🏆 https://t.co/R30GPvzhOV pic.twitter.com/RMtKgtCRtm
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 29, 2024
You even gave coach Nick Cushing a season-best 8.5. It’s a well-deserved high-five for the tactical adjustments he made to a lineup hit by suspensions and injuries, and how he managed the game through to the final whistle. A patched-together Starting XI that he assembled with a couple of depth pieces looked like a well-drilled first-choice squad that could take on any lineup in Major League Soccer. Somebody buy that man a beer.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Andrew Leigh
Alonso Martínez, off 67′ (9.0) – 9.2
Maxi Moralez, off 79′ (8.8) – 8.8
Hannes Wolf, off 85′ (6.7) – 6.6
Andrés Perea (8.3) – 8.7
Keaton Parks, off 66′ (7.5) – 7.7
James Sands (7.4) – 8.2
Tayvon Gray (8.8) – 9.1
Kevin O’Toole (7.6) – 8.1
Thiago Martins (6.9) – 8.0
Justin Haak (7.3) – 7.8
Matt Freese (7.2) – 8.4
Mounsef Bakrar, on 66′ (6.2) – 6.1
Agustín Ojeda, on 66′ (6.3) – 6.4
Birk Risa, on 79′ (6.0) – 6.6
Julián Fernández, on 85′ (N/A) – 6.5
Player Spotlight
Tayvon Gray
Before we get into Gray’s attacking contributions, namely the assist to Peréa in the 30th minute and his MLS scoring debut in the 68th minute, let’s spend a moment looking at how the right-back shut down the Red Bulls offense.
Gray put in a near-perfect shift in defense, winning two out of two tackles and making two interceptions, seven recoveries, and two clearances. He was whistled for just one foul, and helped limit Red Bulls leading goal-scorer Lewis Morgan to just one shot in 90 minutes. He was a defensive menace in the best possible sense of the word.
But it was on the offensive side of things that Gray truly shone. His assist to Perea was an elegant, curling ball that arced over the box and searched out the midfielder’s forehead. A cross like that would make Kevin de Bryune proud.
NOW THAT'S WHAT YOU CALL A RESPONSE 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/8OIdHg4Ivl
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 29, 2024
It was Gray’s seventh assist of the year, which makes him the most productive full-back/wing-back in MLS according to journalist (and sometimes Hudson River Blue contributor) James Nalton. Gray’s 0.5 assists per 90 minutes leads all players in the position with at least 800 minutes this season.
Numbers aside, that play reclaimed the momentum for New York City. Red Bulls striker Dante Vanzeir had scored just two minutes earlier, and NYCFC know all too well that their team can’t always protect a lead. The quality of the chance that Gray created, and the class of Perea’s finish, allowed New York City to retake control of the scoreline and reassert control over the game.
Then, in the second half, Gray did this:
A REAL NEW YORKER 🥶 pic.twitter.com/vDCmpCTHx6
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 29, 2024
It was the first MLS goal for the NYCFC Homegrown, and it was a beaut. We could wax poetic about the shot, but we’d rather let Gray explain it in his own words:
Tayvon Gray on his goal, team-high seven assists and setting up Andres Perea on his goal. #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/rKCLLgAvfl
— Matthew Mangam (@MatthewMangam) September 29, 2024
Matthew Mangam
Nick Cushing – 8.5
No Santiago Rodríguez, no Strahinja Tanasijević, no problem.
Not only did Cushing cope with missing two of the key starters in last week’s hard-fought draw with Inter Miami, he fielded a Starting XI that conducted a masterclass in the attractive, progressive, fast-paced soccer that fans want from this club.
This New York City lineup did it all. They scored their first two goals by pressing the Red Bulls defense, forcing them to make basic mistakes and then capitalizing on those errors. Then they scored their next three goals by creating chances and following through with clinical finishing. This was a team win, and Cushing deserves credit for devising a plan for how to outplay Red Bulls, and preparing his squad to execute it.
Tori Penso – 7.1
Straight talk: Tori Penso could sometimes be a little generous with New York City. Not that anybody on the blue side of the city and environs is complaining. She also whistled NYCFC for some soft fouls, so it feels like it was even in the end.
While Red Bulls fans might be upset with many of her calls, we note that her performance seems to be part of a larger trend within the league to whistle offensive fouls when they occur. Forwards sometimes grab shirts too, and it’s refreshing to see a referee try to be even-handed on both ends of the field.
Player of the Match
Alonso Martínez
For the sixth time this year, Alonso Martínez is your Player of the Match.
El Clínico scored twice on the night — and was unlucky not to score a third when a shot clanged off the crossbar. He’s a remarkable player, somebody who makes difficult maneuvers look easy, such as intercepting a back pass and dribbling faster than defender Andres Reyes can sprint without the ball, then making Red Bulls goalkeeper Carlos Coronel look like a puppet whose strings were cut.
ALONSO. ALWAYS. DELIVERS. pic.twitter.com/U4dloUEK7n
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc) September 28, 2024
We’ve gone into the clinical nature of Martínez’s finishing in the past — after all, it was Andrew Leigh who first called him El Clínico back in July. But to be honest, it’s hard to say anything new at this point. The winger-turned-backup-striker is preternaturally composed in front of the goal, and is now firmly established as one of the two best finishers in the league along with Lionel Messi.
🫡🩺 #NYCFC pic.twitter.com/u7sI8iSgu3
— Hudson River Blue (@HudsonRiverBlue) September 29, 2024
Martínez is also proving himself to be one of the greatest goal-scorers in NYCFC’s short history. The two he scored at Red Bull Arena give him 14 in 2024, which puts him in Sixth Place for goals in a single season by a New York City player.
New York City FC | All-Time Leaders Goals Per Season
| Name | Year | G | Mins | G/90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | David Villa | 2016 | 23 | 2869 | 0.72 |
| 2. | David Villa | 2017 | 22 | 2556 | 0.77 |
| 3. | Taty Castellanos | 2021 | 19 | 2760 | 0.62 |
| 4. | David Villa | 2015 | 18 | 2514 | 0.64 |
| 5. | Héber | 2019 | 15 | 1575 | 0.86 |
| 6. | Alonso Martínez | 2024 | 14 | 1262 | 1.00 |
| 7. | David Villa | 2018 | 14 | 1754 | 0.72 |
| 8. | Taty Castellanos | 2022 | 13 | 1436 | 0.81 |
| 9. | Alexandru Mitriță | 2019 | 12 | 2172 | 0.50 |
| 10. | Frank Lampard | 2016 | 12 | 1280 | 0.84 |
There are three games left in the regular season. Will Martínez score at least one more, and climb up into the Top Five? You can’t predict the future. but El Clínico is as close to a sure thing as you’ll find in this squad.
Andrew Leigh
