Alex Ring came in as a relatively unheralded addition to New York City FC, especially with all the preseason hype around youth squad midfielder James Sands. It’s clear, however, that Ring has been a twofold asset to NYCFC: playing major minutes, he’s helped decrease the number of goals conceded while allowing them to play out of the back more effectively.
Ring was brought in to replace Andoni Iraola, who had made a midseason switch from fullback to defensive midfield. Inspired by my comparison of Maxi Moralez and Frank Lampard, I decided to juxtapose Iraola’s 2016 performance and Alex Ring’s 2017 performance so far.