New York City FC's fullbacks are always an integral part of any successful squad. Think of the prime years of Anton Tinnerholm and Ronald Matarrita, or when Gudi Thorarinson and Malte Amundsens helped carry the team to the league title in 2021.
At their best, NYCFC's fullbacks are elite players who add width to the attack and stability to the defense.
But NYCFC didn't find like-for-like replacements for the players they lost in recent years, and instead decided to go down the youth development road. This season, we saw 19-year-old Mitja Ilenič and 22-year-old Tayvon Gray split time at right back, notching 1733 minutes and 1720 minutes respectively. On the other side of the field, 26-year-old Kevin O’Toole made left-back his own — barring the 368 minutes that 17-year-old Christian McFarlane played midseason.
To start off with the good: Ilenič, Gray, and O’Toole all scored their first goals for the club – significant milestones for all three. Furthermore, all three can be credited with taking steps forward in their games, improving their play from the previous season. Most notably, Gray grew into the position by adding seven assists on top of his first career goal in what was by far his most productive season so far.
