Rio occasionally makes the bench when injuries thin our defensive options, but his presence highlights a deeper issue with the NYCFC roster: we carry a significant number of players who rarely, if ever, see the field. While I can’t compare directly to other teams in the league at the moment, it feels substantial.
Currently, four players on the roster—potentially a fifth soon—are young academy players who don’t play. On one hand, this is a positive sign for the academy’s development, but it also limits our roster flexibility. It would be helpful if the league expanded the number of roster spots designated for academy players, allowing teams to maintain depth without compromising opportunities for academy players.
Beyond that, there’s some puzzling, self-inflicted roster congestion. Last season, we carried four goalkeepers, which might have made sense if the team was preparing to move on from Barraza as a one-year plan. But if Barraza is staying, the reasoning behind carrying four goalkeepers becomes unclear. Similarly, Rio’s situation is curious—he’s been on the roster for a while but rarely sees any game time.
