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Each week, myself, Matt Coyne, Tim Dean, Austin Fido, and you the fans will be able to rank the New York Red Bulls squad from best to worst. As you can see by the table below, the math for this is pretty simple. The four Once a Metro writers get a vote, and we add a fifth collective fan vote. We take a straight average of the votes, and rank the players accordingly. The Once a Metro staff also adds comments about each player, and I'll give some thoughts on how things shook out later in the article.
For the table, here's the initials you need to know:
- JI - Jason Iapicco
- TD - Tim dean
- MC - Matt Coyne
- AF - Austin Fido
Fan Vote from this week can be found here.
Rankings
| Rank | Player | Change | JI | TD | MC | AF | Fans | Average | Comments |
| 1 | Lloyd Sam | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.6 | JI - He's been an absolute monster on the right that the only way he'll lose the job at this point is due to injury. |
| 2 | Luis Robles | -1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1.8 | TD - Robles' season is getting louder by the week. When was the last time New York has been this confident in a keeper? |
| 3 | Jamison Olave | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3.4 | AF - "Olave out" remain the scariest words conceivable in a RBNY match preview. |
| 4 | Thierry Henry | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 4.6 | MC - It's more than just goals with Henry. It's when he scores them. He's tied for most on the team, but they've both been big. |
| 5 | Peguy Luyindula | -2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | MC - Who thought Luyindula would ever score, let alone be second on the team in goals? If your hand is up right now, you're a liar. |
| 6 | Roy Miller | -1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5.8 | JI - As Austin Fido said, we need to start giving Miller our sincere respect. |
| 7 | Eric Alexander | 7 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | TD - If Alexander continues to play the way he did against the Union, he will rapidly move up this list. |
| 8 | Kosuke Kimura | 0 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9.2 | AF - Has he cemented his place as the first-choice right back yet? |
| 9 | Dax McCarty | -1 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | JI - If he really is hurt, why isn't he resting? Early in the year isn't the time to play hero, especially when you aren't performing. |
| 10 | Ibrahim Sekagya | 0 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 10.6 | TD - Red card aside, Ibra is STILL the best option next to Olave. |
| 11 | Tim Cahill | 1 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 10.8 | JI - Was a spark of life when he came on against Philly, let's see how he does when he's back to full health. |
| 12 | Jonny Steele | -6 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 11 | TD - Steele hasn't been playing poorly but it appears as if Mike Petke isn't completely sold on him this year. |
| 13 | Bradley Wright-Phillips | -2 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 8 | 17 | 12.6 | MC - Petke put him on the field against the Union and told him to make an impression. He didn't. |
| 14 | Armando | -2 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 13.6 | AF - Needs to shake off his reputation as the poor man's Aurelien Collin. |
| 15 | Bobby Convey | 2 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 19 | 15.8 | JI - The best part of Convey's injury is that we've seen that Alexander can play on the left. |
| 16 | Ruben Bover | 0 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 16.6 | AF - He seems to be completely crowded out of the lineup at every position he could play. Mostly because of Alexander's versatility. |
| 17 | Richard Eckersley | 2 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 17.4 | MC - Richard Eckersley is one of the highest paid players on the Red Bulls. Repeat, Richard Eckersley is one of the highest paid players on the Red Bulls |
| 17 | Connor Lade | 1 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 14 | 17.4 | TD - a friend who was attending an RBNY match for the first time took one look at Lade and said "Who's that kid?" ...Seems about right. |
| 19 | Matt Miazga | -4 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 17.6 | MC - So much upside, so few minutes. |
| 20 | Andre Akpan | 0 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 18 | AF - His injury may have coincided with his best chance to crack the starting lineup. Long road back, even to the bench, now. |
Trends
Thoughts
- Biggest Jump: Eric Alexander (+7)
- Biggest Drop: Johnny Steele (-6)
- Eric Alexander got a nice bump from his performance against the Philadelphia Union, with Tim Dean giving him the biggest bump (17 to 8).
- Thierry Henry also seemed to prove himself to the fans, who voted him #17 last week to #7 this week (+10).
- Matt Miazga got penalized big time for not playing this week (15 to 19), but you can't say it isn't unwarranted.
- Lloyd Sam stayed in first by the smallest of margins (0.2 over Robles).
What do you think of how the staff voted? Think we were too harsh/lenient? Think the rankings are good or bad? Let us know in the comments.