Another poor performance on the road meant another grim set of New York City FC player ratings handed down by the readers of Hudson River Blue.
No one shined during NYCFC’s 2-0 loss at Gillette Stadium, and our readers didn’t rate any player above 6.0. Pascal Jansen’s squad got much kinder ratings from our favorite rating algorithm over at FotMob, where the Starting XI averaged a 6.4 rating. Our readers weren’t so generous, with their average rating of the members of the Starting XI down at 4.7, with a player rated as low as 3.8.
The fans were very displeased with how things played out against New England and they might, bigger picture, be displeased about the state of this New York City team. NYCFC now has lost three of four matches and even the 1-0 win over Philadelphia Union wasn’t the most impressive of home victories.
The highest-rated New York City players from Matchday 9 ended up being substitutes, with a substitute even receiving the most votes for Player of the Match. It’s a stretch to even say there was a “Player of the Match” given how bad New York City looked for the vast majority of this game, but read on for the full ratings plus spotlights on a few of the at least slightly better performers on the night.
Note: FotMob ratings are in parentheses.
Alonso MartĂnez (5.8) – 5.1
AgustĂn Ojeda, off 46′ (6.5) – 5.1
Maxi Moralez (7.4) – 4.9
Hannes Wolf (6.5) – 4.5
Mounsef Bakrar, off 62′ (6.6) – 3.8
Jonathan Shore, off 62′ (5.9) – 4.5*
Kevin O’Toole, off 75′ (5.9) – 4.3
Justin Haak (6.4) – 4.7
Thiago Martins (6.5) – 4.2
Mitja IleniÄŤ, off 62′ (6.4) – 4.7
Matt Freese (6.4) – 5.7
*We omitted Jonny Shore from the voting form. His rating is based on FotMob, the average difference between our reader ratings and FotMob’s.
Keaton Parks, on 46′ (6.7) – 5.9
Tayvon Gray, on 62′ (6.6) – 5.8
AndrĂ©s Pera, on 62′ (6.3) – 5.1
Julián Fernández, on 62′ (6.4) – 4.6
Nico Cavallo, on 75′ (6.7) – 5.1
Player Spotlight
Maxi Moralez
New York City continues to rely heavily on Moralez to create chances for what’s turned into a one-dimensional, All Alonso MartĂnez attack. The 38-year-old attacking midfielder continued to do the most possible to make things happen in New England, but there was once again no payoff in terms of goal contributions or goals, period.
Moralez was the highest-rated NYCFC player if you go by FotMob, earning a 7.4 from their algorithm because of the attacking stats he accumulated in vain in the shutout vs. the Revs. New York City’s No 10 had five chances created, played 11 progressive passes, and attempted and completed the most passes of any player from either team at Gillette Stadium.
Everything in possession ran through Maxi for NYCFC, so that might explain why our readers graded him more harshly than the cold, unfeeling FotMob algo. His 4.9 reader rating has to reflect some frustration with an attack that did nothing to trouble the Revs until the dying minutes of the match while already behind by two goals.
Moralez has been trying and trying to unlock opposing defenses and get his teammates into positions to score, but it’s not yet translated to end product. Maxi still sits on the one assist he earned, from a dead-ball free-kick opportunity, on Matchday 1 vs. Inter Miami CF.
In 2025 so far, he’s put up 99th percentile numbers on a per-90-minute basis for MLS attacking midfielders in things like his number of touches, pass completions, and completed passes into the final attacking third. Yet he sits in the 58th percentile for expected assisted goals (xAG) and is only in the 63rd percentile for his key passes per-90, so while he’s still as heavily involved in the attack as ever, it’s not yet translating to good chances for his teammates in front of goal.
Matthew Mangam
Pascal Jansen – 4.0
The lowest rating so far for Pascal Jansen arrives in his ninth match. Jansen tried to give his attack a spark by giving Mounsef Bakrar a start alongside Alonso MartĂnez while only having one defensive midfielder, Jonathan Shore, included in his Starting XI. The team looked to miss Keaton Parks in midfield, and neither Bakrar nor MartĂnez had great games while playing at the same time. Bakrar has eaten up a lot of fan patience, receiving the lowest HRB rating of any player to see the field in New England, and Jansen keeps giving him opportunities to impress, without any return so far from those opportunities. Scoring chances and attacking fluidity have been hard to come by all season long for this team and the New England game appears to represent the nadir, at least so far. Jansen credited New England’s organization and defensive strength for suffocating his team’s attack, but the voters in our ratings weren’t so level-headed about it.
Marcos De Oliveira – 5.8
Player of the Match
Tayvon Gray
Tayvon Gray got the most votes for Player of the Match, barely passing Matt Freese and Maxi Moralez who finished a close second and third, respectively. If we’re being honest, crowning a Player of the Match against New England feels like a stretch given how bad NYCFC looked for the vast majority of the 90 minutes.
Gray got the most votes perhaps because he helped NYCFC show more signs of life when he entered as a 62nd-minute substitute, and perhaps because he had a hand in both shots on target New York City managed in what was a toothless attacking performance.
The Homegrown fullback set Alonso MartĂnez up for the first NYCFC shot on target of the match in the 85th minute, with Gray hitting a long, hopeful pass over the top that ended up in a perfect spot for MartĂnez to run onto. The Costa Rican controlled and got his shot off while pursued by two Revs defenders, but it was straight into the arms of goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic. Gray himself tested Ivacic with a powerful strike a bit later in the 88th minute, but the New England keeper pushed the shot aside and kept his clean sheet intact.
The return to health and MLS action, plus the danger provided by Gray in attack once entering in the second half were all welcome sights. Mitja IleniÄŤ played well in Gray’s absence but the Bronx native’s positional flexibility, given we’ve seen him play left-back and center-back in addition to the usual right-back, makes him a valuable player for Pascal Jansen to have back and available.
