Nashville SC has to hope there’s nowhere to go but up as the team heads into Saturday’s home game against the Columbus Crew.
The Boys in Gold will be trying to bounce back from the worst loss in franchise history, a 5-0 shellacking at the hands of LAFC last weekend. It marked the first time Nashville, which had only once in four-plus seasons lost by as many as four goals, had ever lost by five.
But despite a welcome return to Geodis Park, Nashville (1-1-3) will face a significant challenge in getting back on track.
The Crew (3-1-1) are the reigning Major League Soccer champs and have won two league titles since Nashville began MLS competition in 2020.
“I don’t see that there will be any difficulty in getting the group up for this game in a positive and intense position,” Nashville SC coach Gary Smith said. “I think what the game will boil down to is can we take advantage of the moments that we get, and of course, can we restrict and disrupt what are a very good side? They are an elite side. They’ve proven that.
“It will be a really good opportunity for us to draw a line in the sand again and put what happened last week behind us. So there’s many, many aspects of this game that I think we’re looking at in a far more positive fashion than we are in a negative one.”
Unfortunately for Nashville, the team’s back line, pillaged by LAFC last Saturday, remains a mess. Central defender Walker Zimmerman will miss his fifth straight game with a knee injury. His usual partner in the middle, Lukas MacNaughton, is still recovering from a hip injury and is unlikely to start.
That could mean a repeat of last week’s center backs, Jack Maher and Brent Kallman, who not surprisingly didn’t look very connected — nor very sharp — in the one-sided loss.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been unable on many, many occasions [to start] what I would classify as a fluid backline, a backline that have worked together regularly,” Smith said. “We’ve not been put out the same group, the same relationships. We’ve, of course, had a couple of injuries at any given point and time. I think that does play into it. I’m not making that as an excuse as to what happened, but it certainly plays into the fact that there were certain breakdowns in some of the work that went on.”
Nashville would love to see a return to form its primary offensive threat, midfielder Hany Mukhtar, who was the league’s MVP in 2022.
In his 15 MLS games since Leagues Cup play ended last August, Mukhtar has been limited to two goals and three assists. He doesn’t have a goal or an assist in three MLS games this season and has managed only four shots (with only two of those being shots on goal).
The low numbers aren’t all Mukhtar’s fault, of course, as he is regularly the focus of opposing defenses. In addition, he is sometimes limited because Nashville’s other midfielders are much more defensive-minded, limiting the team’s attack.
But Mukhtar has been able to produce despite those issues in the past.
Smith said he’s working toward getting Mukhtar more opportunities moving forward, calling him a catalyst for a lot of good that goes on in the team.
“The bottom line is, as with all forwards and attacking players, the confidence that they feel out of creating and scoring is an emotion that I don’t think any coach can replace,” Smith said. “What I can certainly do is try and offer up individuals, situations, maybe even structural elements to the group that are going to offer Hany the opportunity to get into those moments … But I think that might be something that is just sparked into life by Hany hitting the back of the net, and him finding a completely different level and emotional plane that he’s maybe not feeling right now.”