The overall improvement of New York City FC in 2024 papers over an uncomfortable truth: While the team took a step forward this year, the defense took a step back.
The 2023 squad might have put up the second-worst record in New York City history, but the 39 goals allowed were the second-fewest for the club in a 34-game season: it trails only the 36 allowed by the title-winning team in 2021. The 2023 edition of the team had many problems, but the defense was not one of them.
New York City FC | Record by Year
| Year | G | W | D | L | PTS | PPG | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 50 | 1.47 | 54 | 49 | 5 |
| 2023 | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 41 | 1.21 | 35 | 39 | -4 |
| 2022 | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 55 | 1.62 | 57 | 41 | 16 |
| 2021 | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 51 | 1.50 | 56 | 36 | 20 |
| 2020 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 39 | 1.70 | 37 | 25 | 12 |
| 2019 | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 64 | 1.88 | 63 | 42 | 21 |
| 2018 | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 56 | 1.65 | 59 | 45 | 14 |
| 2017 | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 57 | 1.68 | 56 | 43 | 13 |
| 2016 | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 54 | 1.59 | 62 | 57 | 5 |
| 2015 | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 37 | 1.09 | 49 | 58 | -9 |
You can’t say the same of the 2024 squad, which gave up 49 goals. That’s the third-most in club history: You have to go back to the dark days of 2015 and 2016, when Josh Saunders was the shot-stopper, to find an NYCFC that leaked more goals.
Not only that, the team are fortunate they allowed just 49 goals in 2024. As Matthew Mangam explained yesterday in his Final Grade for Matt Freese, the goalkeeper is credited with 8.9 goals prevented, the second-highest in Major League Soccer. On paper, this was a team that should’ve given up 58 goals in 2024.
Uncomfortable partnership
What’s going on? How is it that a team that stumbled through 2023 with Luis Barraza sharing goalkeeping duties with Freese was more solid defensively than a squad rebuilt for 2024?
In large part, it’s because the defensive partnership between Thiago Martins and Birk Risa never gelled.
The value of Thiago Martins has become more apparent over time. The 29-year-old Designated Player is among the most intelligent center-backs in the league — it feels like he makes the smart play 99% of the time.
Just as important is his on-field leadership. The team captain is one of the keys to the development of young players such as Mitja Ilenič and Tayvon Gray (who will be covered by Noah Kassell-Yung in these pages later today). In addition, he continues to play a big role in the evolution of Freese — the center-back and the goalkeeper have excellent chemistry.
But he’s not a hard man in the tradition of Maxime Chanot or Alexander Callens, two tactically intelligent slabs of meat that other teams hated to face. Thiago Martins won’t ever be that player, and he unless he’s paired with a bruiser like Sean Nealis of New York Red Bulls, or Teenage Hadebe of FC Cincinnati, the league’s large and aggressive strikers will continue to torment this back line.
Instead, he was mostly partnered with Birk Risa, a central defender who is physically slight by the standards of MLS, and who faded as the season wore on.
Trouble with Risa and Tanasijević, possibilities with Haak
New York City reportedly paid a $1 million fee to sign Risa in July 2023, and the left-footed center-back was known as much for his distribution and ability to cross the ball to the right wing as for his abilities in defense. But the 26-year-old didn’t meet expectations in 2024. While his 3.42 progressive passes per game put him in the not-bad 62% per FBref, his defensive stats were atrocious: Risa was in the 7% for tackles, 11% for interceptions, 25% for blocks, 23% for clearances, and 13% for aerials won. FotMob puts him in the 11% for defensive actions.
He also had three errors, the second-highest on the team. It’s a poor showing from the seventh-highest paid player on the squad, somebody who significantly out-earns players such as Maxi Moraelz, Alonso Martínez, and Freese.
There’s no kind way to put it. Risa was among the worst center-backs in MLS last year.
New York City FC | 2024 Central Defender Stats
| TKLS | INTS | BLKS | CLRS | AERS | ERRS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thiago Martins | 2% | 10% | 45% | 40% | 32% | 2 |
| Birk Risa | 7% | 11% | 25% | 23% | 13% | 3 |
| Strahinja Tanasijević | 22% | 30% | 70% | 37% | 5% | 0 |
| Justin Haak | 18% | 93% | 96% | 89% | 78% | 0 |
Per FBref
Strahinja Tanasijević, a 27-year-old brought in from Serbia’s FK Spartak Subotica for a reported $400,000 at the start of the season, wasn’t much better. He had 19 appearances for the club in 2024, but the right-footed defender could make costly mistakes. Per FBref, he was in the 22% for tackles, 30% for interceptions, 70% for blocks, 37% for clearances, and 5% for aerials won. FotMob put him in the 43% for defensive actions.
No wonder Nick Cushing started Justin Haak in the closing games of the year. Haak is about the same size as Risa, but the 23-year-old Brooklyn native relished the physical battle of playing in defense — he even faced down Nealis, who had to leave the Eastern Conference Semifinal with a concussion after the Red Bulls defender tried to rattle Haak by running into him at full speed.
Haak made just 23 appearances for New York City in 2024 – he featured in 18 MLS and five Leagues Cup matches – but his stats speak to his potential. Per FBRef, Haak was only in the 18% for tackles, but he was in the 93% for interceptions, 96% for blocks, 89% for clearances, and 78% for aerials won. FotMob put him in the 75% for defensive actions.
Not only that, Haak is a natural midfielder, and he was comfortable carrying the ball and picking out his passes. If you go strictly by the numbers, Haak was the best central defender on the team.
Looking for that magic
Did Risa provide Thiago Martins with the partnership the team needed? No. The two didn’t complement each other, they overlapped, and Thiago Martins is the better player when it comes to organizing the defense and making strategic passes.
Did Tanasijević? No. He had some strong performances – he was solid in the 5-1 win over San Jose Earthquakes in May and the 2-1 win over Tigres UANL at Red Bull Arena in August – but he remains a depth piece, not an everyday starter.
Did Haak? Somewhat — he certainly had the intensity and desire to start alongside Thiago Martins. But Haak had to adjust to the position, and the right-footed player will never be a natural on the left side of the central defense.
Who will play alongside Thiago Martins in 2025 is something for Sporting Director David Lee to puzzle out. But looking back on 2024, it’s clear to see that troubles in central defense hurt the team — and could have done significantly more damage if not for the goalkeeping heroics of Freese. Really, he’s the reason why the team finished in 6th Place, and not in an 8th or 9th Place Wild Card spot. New York City need to do better if they are to seriously compete for a title in 2025.
Haak impressed. He was terrific coming down the stretch. I must confess, I like Strahinja the Ninja too. Not as a starter, because he’s a little too aggressive at times and is almost certain to draw a card if he’s out there too long. But if you’re in a streetfight, he’s the guy you want by your side.A brief moment in one of the training clips stood out to me. Everyone was gathered around Maxi for something — I think it was his return to being squad ready — and he made some crack about being ready for anything … except tangling with Tanasijevic. Everyone cracked up, which tells me Strahinja had been terrorizing people out there. I like that.