/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/33249359/20140517_mta_bs4_131.JPG.0.jpg)
That was bad. Actually that was really, really bad. The best that can be said about the New York Red Bulls' performance as a team against Toronto FC is that they somehow found BMO Field and arrived in time to lose the match. Uninspired, uncreative and just flat out uninteresting, New York left Toronto with a deserved zero points and a whole lot to think about after losing two straight. So let's take a look at how we can hold the individuals on this team responsible for a depressing day in Canada.
Starting eleven
Luis Robles - 3 - Robles started the season off as one of the best keepers in MLS. After two rough outings in a row, the hype has quieted down a bit, and rightly so. There isn't a keeper in the league that could have done a thing to stop Jermaine Defoe's rocket of a shot, but the second goal of the match was all on Robles for coming off his line in a moment of bad judgement.
Kosuke Kimura - 2 - Oof.
Armando - 4 - It didn't take Mike Petke, or anyone else for that matter, long to realize that Armando was far outclassed by Defoe. Petke made the decision to have Olave switch positions in order to cover the English striker about fifteen minutes into the match. Armando spent the rest of the day attempting own goals, rolling around in the dirt and acting like someone had just thrown acid in his face.
Jamison Olave - 5 - Olave made a huge save off the line to keep the score (at the time) 1-0. For the rest of the game he was busy cleaning up everyone else's mistakes.
Bobby Convey - 5 - There is no doubt that Roy Miller was badly missed in New York's attack, but Convey filled in adequately on the defensive end.
Lloyd Sam - 5 - Besides the fact that teams seem to have caught on to the "Lloyd Sam Chop," the speedy winger had a largely mediocre game. That could possibly be chalked up to the fact that no one was helping him out at all.
Dax McCarty - 4 - Something just isn't right with McCarty's game right now. Maybe it's the lingering back injury, maybe it's exhaustion, but Dax has been a turnover machine and it's hurting this team.
Eric Alexander - 4 - Does anyone actually remember Alexander playing in Saturday's match? He's just not what this team needs in the center of the pitch.
Jonny Steele - 5 - Another average performance from Steele, he'll have to do more if he wants to win a permanent starting spot on the left. Still, he was one of the few players that actually played hard for the full ninety.
Bradley Wright-Phillips - 5 - All good things must come to an end...and so goes BWP's scoring tear. Besides a missed tap in on a wide open net, he played the game he needed to play. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do with the service his midfield was getting him.
Thierry Henry - 5 - Another victim of an ineffective midfield, Henry spent most of the game dropping back for the ball and trying to make something happen. The end result of his efforts? Nothing happened.
Substitutions
Chris Duvall - 6 - This was the first time the rookie has gotten any minutes with the big boys, and what a way to say hello to MLS. Due to some confusion after the half, Duvall had to wait an additional three minutes before being allowed to enter the run of play. The young defender played through the debacle and put in a respectable shift....though to be completely fair, anyone would end up looking like Carles Puyol after Kimura's melt down.
Ruben Bover - 5 - Bover should have been subbed into the match much earlier. As it stood, he barely had any time to make an impact.
Coach
Mike Petke - 3 - Petke continues to harp on the idea that every week is a competition and that the best players will earn the starting spot, yet we continue to see sluggish play with an annoying lack of urgency from many players on the pitch. From the half time substitution fiasco to his refusal to make any additional subs until the eighty-first minute, this was not Petke's day.