On Friday, BJ Callaghan was officially introduced as Nashville Soccer Club's 2nd head coach.
This comes 71 days after the club fired long-time coach, Gary Smith, and amidst Nashville's 6-game losing streak in which they have scored just 3 goals.
With Leagues Cup beginning tonight and the team in an unprecedented slide, Callaghan has his work cut out.
Callaghan, 43, is a New Jersey native who grew up a player. As a goalkeeper, he played collegiately at Ursinus before becoming an assistant coach at the university upon graduation.
Professionally, he was an assistant with the Philadelphia Union before joining the United States' staff in 2019. Most notably, he served as the U.S. Men's National Team interim head coach in 2023.
Callaghan became the first USMNT coach to win in their debut since 1934, defeating rival Mexico in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations league semi final. Three days later, the U.S. won the final against Canada, solidifying Callaghan's name among U.S. soccer fans.
Stylistically, Callaghan will look to implement many of the same strategies with Nashville. The U.S. was a commanding offensive force who played an aggressive and fun style of soccer. Importantly, though, Callaghan will have to take his tendencies and visions as a coach and consider Nashville's personnel and past to best coach the team.
With Nashville in a skid, there is a lot to analyze before the team smoothly transitions to Callaghan's style of play.
Lately, Nashville's struggle has come from a few main factors:
1. Lack of creativity and commitment to the attack
While player absences have made cohesion a bit challenging, the attack is dull and inconsistent. Hany Mukhtar's spells of individual brilliance have been few and far between thanks to the stagnation of the attack. It feels as though the team is always outnumbered, lacks creativity on the ball and in turn, is painfully one dimensional.
2. Midfield disconnect
Throughout the skid and dating back to the beginning of the season, the midfield has been far too disconnected. While Nashville's midfield selection features more defensive players, contributing to the stagnant attack, they are also imbalanced defensively. Opposing attack's seem to waltz through the two-man midfield and run toward the backline with a number of options.
3. Defensive errors
Throughout the season, a number of goals have come from careless defensive errors. Lately, set pieces and crosses have highlighted defensive inability to track runs and commit to clearing the ball. Even if every other issue were solved, clinical teams will continue to make a mockery of Nashville's defense.
Looking to Callaghan's influence, he may be the man to fix these issues.
In his introductory press conference, he outlines a few keys to his approach. Offensively, he wants to maneuver defenses and keep them on their heels, being opportunistic and as he described it, playing with "controlled aggression."
Greatly lacking in the 2024 Nashville SC side, he will bring a renewed focus on the attack by increasing the team's willingness to take calculated risks.
For instance, anticipate individual 1 on 1 efforts brought on by the team's ability to switch the point of attack. Callaghan said that he wants players who demand the ball and are willing to be brave going forward.
Working in tandem with this, greater possession in the middle and attacking thirds is another focus of Callaghan. While committed to possession, he is more concerned with maximizing the team's time in dangerous positions. Formerly, Nashville struggled to reach these positions in the first place given their frequent, and hardly effective, low defensive block.
Very often, Nashville would attempt to counterattack, only to be outnumbered and quickly lose possession in the attacking third. Another emphasis, Callaghan seeks a strong support system in which players move closely together, creating triangles for combination play and longer spells of possession.
Defensively, Callaghan wants to control the game, too, pressing teams and forcing them into a mistake.
Upon losing possession, expect Nashville to quickly counterpress and attempt to keep the game on the offensive side of the field. This alleviates pressure from the backline and midfield and emphasizes quick, calculated defensive decision-making with the intention of quickly winning possession back.
In spells of defense, expect Nashville to look largely the same but with lessened pressure throughout the 90 minutes. Where the present Nashville side may struggle to get out of defensive ruts, anticipate more commitment to possession out of the back and when applicable, counter attacks.
As far as shape, Callaghan favored Nashville's most-used 4-2-3-1 in his time coaching the U.S. Given his attacking objectives, this makes sense.
We will likely see Hany Mukhtar featured at the #10, Surridge returning to his position at the #9, and a more put together product, especially in the attack. While moments of individual skill have led to some chances, 2024 has felt so stagnant because of the sheer lack of dangerous opportunities the team has generated.
At Nashville's best Mukhtar is creating and getting rid of the ball quickly, combing with Surridge who puts away any chance within 15 yards, Jacob Shaffelburg is on the outside beating defenders in wide areas, and the team mixes combination down the middle with Mukhtar and the involvement of wingers and fullbacks. Anticipate the team to look much more like this.
In addition to Callaghan's influence, there are a few other reasons to be excited:
The team signed midfielder Patrick Yazbek last week. The 22 year old Australian international was acquired from Nowegian side, Viking FK, for a transfer fee of 3.2m. Because Nashville's midfield has struggled to get forward with the exception of the occasional Dru Yearwood forward run, this is exciting.
Nashville also acquired winger Jonathan Perez on loan from LA Galaxy. The 21 year old has limited MLS experience but has contributed consistently during his time in MLS Next Pro. This move has the option to buy and could provide some considerable upside given his youth and raw talent.
Also, Randall Leal is about ready to return from a long-time hip injury. With the recent unfortunate injury to Tyler Boyd, this return is timely. Leal, 27, has struggled to piece together a consistent stretch of games for about a year. As one of Nashville's most exciting attackers, he could emerge under Callaghan and make use of his exciting on-ball talent.
It may not be a flawless transition but Nashville fans should be excited for what GM Mike Jacob's describes as Nashville SC's "Phase 2." With Leagues Cup beginning and just 9 games remaining the MLS schedule, it is time for Nashville to move forward and get results under this new reign.
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