Tag: Nashville SC

Photo courtesy of Nashville SC

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The Boys in Gold opened up their MLS season with a 0-0 draw against the New York Red Bulls with the help of keeper Joe Willis putting on a clinic with four huge saves.

Nashville relied on Willis to keep the game scoreless while they were without 2022 MVP Hany Mukhtar and striker Sam Surridge. Both were injured during the team’s 3-0 Concacaf Champions League win against Moca FC.

The offense was extremely quiet, especially in the first half when NSC only attempted one shot. New York on the other hand took 12 shots along with three corner kicks. Fans got to see newly signed Tyler Boyd put in a lot of work to keep New York out of the Nashville net. In the second half, Nashville showed some offensive prowess, taking four shots and have three corners.

But it was Willis who came out as the star of the match. He made a massive save in the 44th minute on a shot from Emil Forsberg which would’ve found its way into the net eight out of 10 times. He saved another shot in the 63rd minute which he deflected off the crossbar. Without his efforts, Nashville may have walked away with a loss to start the season.

Despite the offensive struggles, Nashville showed that they can still be one of the best defenses in the league. Performances from Shaq Moore, Jack Maher, and Brian Anunga shined as NSC worked tireless to keep the ball in the midfield.

Walker Zimmerman and Anibal Godoy both came in halfway through the second half to help give a push on offense. This is when NSC saw its most opportunities but still failed to come up with a goal.

The obvious negative takeaways from the season opener were the loss of both Mukhtar and Surridge. The team needs to find a way to create offense without their two star scorers, especially if Surridge is out for an extended period of time. The team’s second biggest issue is speed. Outside of Jacob Shaffleburg, Nashville is incredibly slow. And without Fafa Picault this season, they will need to find someone on the bench or on the market, to add speed to the squad. If not, most of the play will take place in the midfield for at least 60 minutes per game.

Next up, Nashville hosts Moca FC for the second leg of Round One of the Concacaf Champions League on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 8:15 p.m. CT at GEODIS Park. No updates have been given on the status of Mukhtar or Surridge.

Photo: Courtesy of Major League Soccer

Nashville SC fans were treated to an impressive 3-0 win by their club over Moca FC earlier in the week in CONCACAF Champions Cup play, offering a glimpse into what the squad has to offer this season. Nashville looked aggressive, advanced the ball with ease, and played on the front foot throughout the full 90 minutes.

Considering Gary Smith’s tendency to play defensively and go long stretches without the ball, it was certainly a welcome sight. At times, goals have seemed to come at a premium for Nashville SC over the past four years, but Thursday’s performance seemed to signal a shift in tactical philosophy by the gaffer in his seventh season at the helm.

But that excitement and new-look attack came at a price.

Both Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge exited the match due to injuries, severely hampering the club’s potential offensive output. While Mukhtar appeared to be removed as a precautionary measure, Surridge was immediately taken to the locker room with an apparent shoulder injury. Surridge will likely be ruled out for Nashville’s opener at Geodis Park after scoring once for Nashville and assisting another goal at Moca FC.

Will the exciting and threatening attack that was on display last time out reappear in Nashville’s MLS debut, or will we have a match that feels lethargic between two perennial defensive powerhouses?

Recap Nashville’s 3-0 win over Moca FC here.

What to Watch For

1) Where will Nashville’s Offense Come From?

Should Surridge miss Sunday’s MLS opener, Nashville will need to quickly come up with an answer to this question. The forward group is thin, and we’ve seen that despite being one of the most talented players in the league, Mukhtar can’t shoulder the scoring burden alone.

Tyler Boyd was Nashville’s best player on Thursday night, and he will need to replicate that performance vs. New York. A solid shift from either Dru Yearwood or Jacob Shaffelburg opposite of Boyd will need to support the central-running Mukhtar to get on the board. A goal from Teal Bunbury wouldn’t hurt either, should he be Surridge’s replacement.

2) How will the Central Midfielders Link Up Play?

It’s no secret that one of the main reasons why Nashville SC struggled to play with the ball a season ago was its poor central midfield play. For as glimmering as Dax McCarty’s MLS career has been and may continue to be, he and Aníbal Godoy regularly failed to control the tempo of play and find the proper pass to advance the ball in 2023. While solid defensively, there was simply no creativity moving forward from that position.

McCarty joined Atlanta United in the offseason, leaving Godoy to likely pair with Sean Davis in the middle. The two will need to be at the top of their game to break down a stingy Red Bulls defense and control the rhythm of the match.

3) Will Zimmerman and Lovitz Go 90 Minutes?

Walker Zimmerman and Dan Lovitz both battled injuries throughout the offseason and through Nashville’s preseason, each playing only 15 minutes in the club’s final preseason match and zero minutes up until then. Both are questionable for Sunday, but should they appear in Smith’s Starting XI, do they have 90 minutes to give, or will we see more Taylor Washington at the left-back position and either Sean Davis or Lukas MacNaughton at center-back?

Scouting Red Bulls

There are plenty of question marks surrounding Red Bulls entering 2024. Sandro Schwartz was appointed manager of the club in the offseason after coaching for over a decade in Germany and Russia. Key departures for New York in the offseason included striker Tom Barlow and Omir Fernández, but the addition of attacking midfielder Emil Forsberg from RB Leipzig could prove to be one of the biggest MLS additions of the offseason.

Forsberg, a Swedish international, tallied 71 goals and 65 assists for the top-flight German side in 325 appearances across all competitions. New York is hoping that his addition alongside forward Dante Venzeir, who struggled mightily in his first season with Red Bulls in 2023, can establish some kind of attacking presence for a side that managed only 36 goals last season, the fourth-fewest in MLS.

A typical Red Bulls style of play closely resembles that of Nashville SC – very slow, featuring great defense in favor of a potent offense. Last season, New York conceded 39 times, the fifth-fewest in the league compared to Nashville’s MLS-leading 32 goals allowed.

Projected Starting XI

Bunbury
Boyd | Mukhtar | Shaffelburg
Davis | Godoy
Lovitz | MacNaughton | Zimmerman | Moore
Willis

With Surridge’s absence, Bunbury will likely serve as Nashville’s No. 9 up top. Expect him to frequently act as a Fale 9 with Mukhtar streaking forward with better pace than the the 33-year-old.

The winger position opposite of Boyd is a toss-up between Shaffelburg and Yearwood, as is the other center-back position alongside Walker Zimmerman. Shaffelburg’s finishing will be needed to compensate for the aging Bunbury up top, while Yearwood’s speed and defensive acumen likely pair better with the more explosive Surridge manning the striker position.

While either Davis or MacNaughton could get the start at center-back, we project MacNaughton here based on preseason minutes played.

Photo: Courtesy of Nashville SC

For the first time this year, fans got to see Nashville SC in competitive action on Thursday night when the club took on Dominican Republic side Moca FC in the First Round of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Nashville entered the match as the clear favorites and Gary Smith’s side lived up to the billing, winning the contest comfortably by a 3-0 margin.

With so many new faces in the squad, fans were excited to see what this younger, pacier squad would look like outside of preseason play, and here are four takeaways from the long-anticipated 2024 club debut.

1) Chemistry Up Top

There wasn’t much time for Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar to get on the same page a year ago with the former being acquired by Nashville SC in July 2023. This past offseason allotted time for the two to develop some attacking chemistry, something the club had been missing since it dealt C.J. Sapong to Toronto FC last April.

Although Mukhtar was subbed off before halftime, the spacing and anticipation between him and Surridge were noticeably improved from last season. The two combined twice for two goals in just 25 minutes, both emerging from perfectly-timed runs by their teammate. The spacing between Mukhtar and Surridge remained consistent throughout their shared time on the pitch as well, splitting drop-back duties off the ball and drifting into dangerous areas.

After Nashville managed to score in just one of its final seven matches a season ago, clear interplay improvement was shown between Nashville’s key men up top on Thursday night.

2) Boyd, Yearwood Sparkle on Wings

Nashville’s two new wingers brought in during the offseason were both brilliant. The argument can be made that Boyd was the best player on the pitch. Not only did he bag his first Nashville goal, but Boyd threatened the opposing goal relentlessly. He created four scoring chances, logged 10 touches inside Moca FC’s box, and concluded the evening having completed 88% of his passes.

Opposite of Boyd was Dru Yearwood who combined expertly with full-back Shaq Moore from the start of the match. Yearwood found his forward counterparts consistently throughout the match, created one scoring chance, and his ability to get back on defense to support Moore was key. Yearwood made six recoveries and won four of his five tackles.

3) Speed And Aggression

In the past, Gary Smith has been happy to sit back and play for nil-nil. That did not appear to be the case on Thursday.

Smith’s squad played quickly from the first minute and never looked content to sit back. Again, the quality of the opposition and the nature of the competition likely played a factor, but Nashville kept its line high and tackled aggressively. Full-backs Shaq Moore and Taylor Washington engaged in more challenges than they backed out from, and Nashville’s counterplay looked as good as it ever has.

4) Early Injuries Threathen MLS Opener

Time for the bad news. Despite how well Mukhtar and Surridge played on Thursday night, both men left the match with apparent injuries.

Mukhtar was the first to exit after going down off the ball in the 35′ minute. Luckily, the former MVP walked off without assistance, made his way to the bench, and was replaced by Jacob Shaffelburg. Surridge, on the other hand, was taken to the locker room after suffering an apparent shoulder injury in the 53′ minute, as reported by Valair Shabilla.

Nashville SC is already thin at the forward position, causing concern with only three days until the club kicks off the MLS regular season vs. New York Red Bulls.

Goals

12′ Hany Mukhtar (assist: Sam Surridge)
25′ Sam Surridge (assist: Hany Mukhtar)
76′ Tyler Boyd

Lineup

Surridge
Boyd | Mukhtar | Yearwood
Davis | Godoy
Washington | Maher | MacNaughton | Moore
Willis

Photo: Courtesy of Northern Tribune

NASHVILLE – With its first competitive minutes of 2024 quickly approaching, Nashville SC made two moves within five days of each other that continued the club’s two central offseason themes – add to the attack, and get younger. The club added 22-year-old Woobens Pacius and 21-year-old Julian Gaines, two players who likely won’t see many minutes this season, but could potentially factor into Nashville’s future plans.

Pacius was signed from the Canadian Premier League’s Forge FC where he scored 32 goals in 93 appearances across all competitions. He also received a CPL Best Canadian U-21 Player nomination in 2022 and won back-to-back North Star Cups.

In 2023, Pacius led the CPL with one goal per 140 minutes and led Forge FC with 10 scores in total.

The young forward certainly has a flair and confidence about him that Nashville fans will fall in love with once he sees playing time.

Pacius joins center-back Lukas MacNaughton as the other CPL-to-MLS transfer on Nashville’s current squad.

In addition to Pacius, Nashville SC rewarded preseason trialist Julian Gaines with a professional deal ahead of the 2024 season with options for 2025 and 2026. As the younger brother of his now-teammate McKenzie, Gaines scored for Nashville in its preseason match vs. Birmingham Legion FC two weeks prior to his contract offering.

Gaines, primarily used as a right-back, made two MLS appearances for the 2023 Western Conference Champions Los Angeles FC in addition to heavy MLS NEXT Pro action. Previously, Gaines made 20 USL Championship appearances for Las Vegas Lights FC between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Photo: Courtesy of Major League Soccer

NASHVILLE – On Tuesday, Nashville SC deepened its reserves at center-back by signing 33-year-old veteran defender Brent Kallman. Kallman trialed with Nashville during the 2024 preseason, ensuring a regular-season deal just weeks before the commencement of the MLS season.

Kallman spent the last seven seasons with Minnesota United where he appeared 114 times for the Loons in regular season play. However, the Nebraska native played only 194 minutes last season in MLS competition as he sat primarily behind Michael Boxall and Miguel Tapias in Minnesota’s pecking order.

With the addition of Kallman, Mike Jacobs and Gary Smith now have a plethora of options at the center-back position. Lukas MacNaughton will likely be the first option to pair alongside Walker Zimmerman in the Starting XI, and when factoring in the likes of Jack Maher, Josh Bauer, and now Brent Kallman, the Boys in Gold harbor a group that just about any other MLS club would lust after.

Of course, Zimmerman carrying the prestigious honor of being one of the best American center-backs throughout the world comes with an unavoidable caveat for Nashville – he will be wearing the Red, White, and Blue for much of the summer in place of the Electric Gold.

Nashville will likely be without its captain for the majority of June due to the United States’ participation in this year’s Copa America tournament, and should Greg Berhalter’s group meet its lofty expectations, Zimmerman may not return until the end of July.

Zimmerman’s absence certainly factored into the club’s decision to add the veteran Kallman as it will be all hands on deck for Nashville SC come the summer.

Photo: Courtesy of Nashville SC

NASHVILLE – The Boys in Gold returned to its fortress named Geodis Park on Wednesday afternoon for its first home preseason action of the recently-flipped calendar. Nashville played host to USL Championship-side Birmingham Legion FC, squeaking out a 3-2 victory on the back of striker Sam Surridge.

A strong Starting XI greeted the season ticket members in attendance, a group that could very well be Gary Smith’s opening day lineup, minus a couple of obvious names across the backline – Walker Zimmerman and Dan Lovitz were notably absent.

Surridge
Shaffelburg | Mukhtar | Boyd
Godoy | Davis
Washington | MacNaughton | Maher | Moore
Willis

The start marked the first for Mukhtar of the preseason as Zimmerman and Lovitz remain the final two Nashville men of note who have yet to take part in the preseason campaign. The former MVP logged about an hour’s worth of minutes in the contest before being replaced by Dru Yearwood.

At long last, fans breathed a sigh of relief as Nashville’s 6’3″ forward found the scoresheet not only once, but once per half as Sam Surridge bagged one with his head and another with his boot. The first saw service from LB Taylor Washington that, after being reviewed to determine whether the headed attempt breached the line, resulted in the match opener.

Nashville would then concede two goals to go down 1-2 to Birmingham, and fans of Nashville SC dating back to the USL-C days will certainly remember the name of one of the Legion’s goalscorers – Tyler Pasher. The former Indy Eleven man accounted for the lone goal in the 2019 USL Championship Quarter-Final match that closed the curtain on Nashville’s final season in the second-division league before its MLS encore commenced.

Surridge responded with an equalizer to dissolve Birmingham’s brief advantage, an effort that deflected off the opposition and into the net.

A late goal from trialist Julian Gaines secured Nashville’s 3-2 win as the younger brother of another Nashville preseason scorer, McKenzie Gaines, continues to push for a regular season roster spot among several other trialists.

The club’s final preseason match will also take place at Geodis Park on February 15 when Nashville hosts formal USL Championship rivals Memphis 901 FC.

Then, the regular season begins.

Player	Goals	Assists
Jacob Shaffelburg	2	–
Sam Surridge	2	–
Tyler Boyd	1	1
McKenzie Gaines	1	1
Forster Ajago	1	–
Julian Gaines	1	–
Hany Mukhtar	–	1
Taylor Washington	–	1