New York City FC player ratings are determined by you the Hudson River Blue readers: Here are your NYCFC player ratings after the soggy 3-0 midweek loss to Houston in The Bronx.
Boy, are these ratings bad.
How bad? So bad, that not a single player is above a 6.0 — Matt Freese’s poor 5.8 is the best on the team. So bad, that the Starting XI has an average rating of 4.5 — and all 16 players who saw the field have an average rating of 4.4, a new low. So bad, that six players earned their worst ratings of the year — Nico Cavallo, Julián Fernández, Tayvon Gray, Justin Haak, Alonso Martínez, Maxi Moralez, and Aiden O’Neill all hit rock bottom. So bad, even Pascal Jansen suffered — his 3.8 is a new season-worst.
It tracks that New York City’s biggest loss of the season has served up the worst ratings of the year.
And to think these ratings come only three days after some of the strongest numbers of the year: Seven players had their best ratings of the season after Sunday’s 3-1 win over Chicago Fire. The only upshot from this forgettable loss to Houston is that you can now put it behind you. After all, New York City will pay Nashville SC tomorrow afternoon, and you’ll have a fresh Rate the Players form to fill out after the final whistle.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso Martínez, off 65′ (5.8) – 4.6
Hannes Wolf, off 65′ (6.7) – 4.8
Julián Fernández (6.4) – 3.9
Maxi Moralez, off 65′ (6.6) – 4.7
Aiden O’Neill (6.3) – 4.8
Jonny Shore, off 74′ (6.4) – 5.1
Tayvon Gray (6.6) – 4.1
Birk Risa (6.6) – 4.1
Justin Haak*, off 65′ (5.4) – 3.4
Thiago Martins (6.4) – 4.3
Matt Freese (7.0) – 5.8
* Own goal
Mounsef Bakrar, on 65′ (5.8) – 4.3
Nico Cavallo*, on 65′ (5.9) – 3.1
Maximo Carrizo, on 65′ (6.3) – 4.5
Agustín Ojeda, on 65′ (6.2) – 4.1
Keaton Parks, on 74′ (5.9) – 4.5
* Penalty foul
Player Spotlight
Gabe Segal
Did we just watch Gabe Segal play the best game of his life?
True, Segal now plays for Houston, and therefore shouldn’t be eligible for the Player Spotlight. But he is an NYCFC alum, and he did refuse to celebrate after schooling Yankee Stadium on the art of clinical finishing. Besides, we make the rules in this house.
The truth is Segal was easily the most captivating player on the field. A backup who has struggled to see minutes since joining Houston, he was the unlikely replacement for the suspended striker Ezequiel Ponce. Add to that Segal’s history with New York City, and you have a classic dramatic setup. It was the soccerball version of Chekov’s gun: If you introduce Segal in the Starting XI, then he must go on to score.
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Gabe Segal jumps on a deflection to score Houston Dynamo’s second goal | Courtesy Houston Dynamo
In fact, Segal scored twice, bagging his first brace in Major League Soccer. First, there was the poacher’s goal in the 50th minute, when he jumped on a deflected save to fire the ball past Matt Freese. Then, there was the stoppage-time penalty when he confidently sent the ball past Freese to ice the win.
But more than that, Segal was the match’s top-rated player, earning a silky 9.0 from the FotMob ratingsbot. He won the most duels (8), took three shots on target, and finished the night with an impressive xG of 2.27. Segal alone displayed more firepower than the entire New York City attack of Martínez, Bakrar, Fernández, Ojeda, and Wolf combined.
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Gabe Segal speaks after Houston’s win | Courtesy Houston Dynamo
And to think that Segal was wearing NYCFC’s sky blue not so long ago. Signed by New York City at the start of the miserable 2023 season, he was always well-regarded here at HRB as he went on to score two SeGoals in the 417 minutes he played that year. His first MLS goal was an 89th-minute equalizer against Orlando City on May 17, 2023, that stole a point on the road; his second came exactly one month later on June 17, 2023, when his stoppage-time equalizer against Columbus Crew stole a point at Yankee Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 30,615.
Once again, he came up big in The Bronx. While the result must sting for New York City fans, it’s hard not to respect a player as hard-working and decent as Segal, and to appreciate what he accomplished on Wednesday night.
Andrew Leigh
Pascal Jansen – 3.9
NYCFC fans were feeling confident when the lineup cards came out. While Houston head coach Ben Olsen played a heavily rotated side, with six changes made to the full-strength team that collapsed against San Jose Earthquakes over the weekend, Pascal Jansen featured the same Starting XI that soundly defeated Chicago Fire on Sunday.
But it was Olsen who won the battle of the lineups. His pieced-together team was soundly outplaying New York City even before Justin Haak headed in an own-goal past Matt Freese, and his decision to give Segal the start proved to be a stroke of genius. (See above.)
Jansen had no response. He went on to make five substitutions, but they looked to be more about saving the legs of his starters for tomorrow’s matchup against Nashville SC than trying to find a way to get a result at home.
No wonder you handed Jansen a 3.8, which is a new low for the year. (It beats the 4.0 you gave him for the 2-0 loss at New England in April.) A season-worst loss gets a season-worst rating.
Rubiel Vazquez – 4.1
NYCFC fans can feel a little hard done by the officiating. Houston defenders persistently infringed on Alonso Martíenez, tugging on his shirt like toddlers trying to get their parent’s attention, but Rubiel Vazquez let those slide.
While this loss can’t be pinned on the referee by any stretch, the calls felt inconsistent, which is why you gave Vazquez the second-lowest rating of the year.
Player of the Match
Jonny Shore
Jonny Shore comfortably won your Player of the Match with 50% of the vote in a five-way race, but his selection seems to be less a reflection of his quality than because he put in the least-bad performance.
Shore completed 91% of his passes, took 50 touches, and had one thrilling run deep into the box. He was a perfect five-for-five for long balls, and wasn’t whistled for a single foul.
It was a good night for Shore, but he’s seen better. More to the point, he will put in much better performances than this one: The future is bright for the 18-year-old.
Mark Radigan
