Hany Mukhtar in the new Nashville SC kit
They say defense wins championships, but for Nashville SC that folksy bit of coach-speech needs a bit of amending: Defense provides a stable foundation for regular-season success, but a team needs more firepower to win in the postseason. It’s not as catchy as the age-old adage, but it rings true for NSC’s entire MLS tenure.
In the four seasons since transitioning to the top level of American soccer, NSC has yet to finish with a losing record, nor have they missed the postseason. That’s a remarkable accomplishment for a fledgling top-flight franchise. But the Boys in Gold have also never advanced past the second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Over three playoff games in the past two seasons (MLS moved to a best-of-three first-round format in 2023), NSC combined for a whopping zero goals in back-to-back first-round exits. Zero goals across three games!
Yes, Hany Mukhtar is a swashbuckling league MVP in his prime, but there’s only so much one player can do — especially in the postseason, when opposing managers home in on a team’s weaknesses. The three-time MLS Best XI honoree has amassed 131 goals and 67 assists across all competitions since suiting up in the Gold and Blue. But he’s also seen a number of promising offensive co-stars go by the wayside.
After an up-and-down first season with NSC, Haitian international Fafà Picault (and his team-best five goals, non-Hany division) is moving on to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Dax McCarty — an integral figure in the club’s MLS transition, but who’s begun to show his age — is also gone, off to rival Atlanta United.
For all his game-changing golden retriever energy, Jacob Shaffelburg is more of a role player than a bona fide No. 2. Randall Leal can’t seem to stay healthy. Sam Surridge and Teal Bunbury have yet to live up to the co-star billing.
Enter Tyler Boyd. The 29-year-old former United States Men’s National Team selection may not have the most explosive career stats, but he was the L.A. Galaxy’s go-to option in his inaugural MLS season last year and has nearly a decade of experience playing in the top-flight leagues in Portugal and Turkey. If nothing else, on paper, Boyd will be the top attacking co-star Mukhtar has had since coming to Nashville.
Walker Zimmerman in the new Nashville SC kit
NSC also shored up the midfield, adding part-time starters Amar Sejdić from Atlanta United and Dru Yearwood from the New York Red Bulls, as well as McKinze Gaines from Charlotte FC and Nashville SC Academy prospect Isaiah Jones. Jones, whose brother Malachi was drafted eighth overall out of Lipscomb University by New York City FC in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, came to Thompson’s Station with his seven siblings in 2013 and is NSC’s second homegrown signing.
The still-league-best defense returns all its key members: USMNT defenders Walker Zimmerman and Shaq Moore, part-time model Lukas MacNaughton, the consistent Daniel Lovitz and ever-present netminder Joe Willis. Plus, the team added the reigning PAC-12 defensive player of the year, Cal’s Wyatt Meyer, with the 11th pick in the SuperDraft in December.
On Feb. 22, NSC will make its international club competition debut with a Concacaf Champions Cup match against Moca FC out of the Dominican Republic. Three days later, Nashville will kick off the regular season at home against the Red Bulls.
There’s much to look forward to in 2024 for NSC, including the debut of a new community-focused kit inspired by Nashville’s neighborhoods. It will likely be another steadily productive regular season. As someone who grew up playing and loving soccer in Middle Tennessee, I still find it hard to believe Nashville has a professional team, much less a consistently successful one. It’s not something to take for granted.
But for 2024 to be a true triumph for NSC, an improved postseason showing — if not an outright deep run in the MLS Cup Playoffs — is somewhere in the vicinity of necessary. Imagine saying that to a local soccer fan in 2018.
