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Here's what's at stake for Nashville SC in 2024 MLS season: 'Go from good to great'
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- Here's what's at stake for Nashville SC in 2024 MLS season: 'Go from good to great'
Tyler Boyd doesn't view himself as a savior for Nashville SC . That would imply he thought the club needed one in the first place.
Boyd came to Nashville in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy in December. He has scored in the UEFA Europa League. He has scored for the United States national team. He scored seven goals in Major League Soccer last season. That's two more than any Nashville player other than Hany Mukhtar scored in 2023.
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Nashville, which finished last season tied as the 22nd-highest scoring team in the 29-team league, desperately needed attacking help. Boyd knows he has to provide it. But the 29-year-old winger also understands his new team's makeup.
"Defense wins championships, and that's a good start," Boyd said. "We're bringing in a couple new pieces this year. Hopefully I can add to the attack, help score goals and win games. I'm looking to build on what they already have."
What Nashville already has is a rock-solid defensive foundation, one that tied for the fewest goals allowed in MLS in 2023, and two of the league's best players in Mukhtar and defender Walker Zimmerman . It has a well-respected coach, Gary Smith, who led the Colorado Rapids to the MLS Cup championship in 2010. Smith and his players believe there's championship potential in this locker room, too.
But how long will Nashville's window be open? And how can it push itself through?
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"I feel like we have something special," winger Jacob Shaffelburg said. " . . . But something this year that we want to do is go from good to great. Not only make the playoffs and be happy with that, but to go farther."
Last season, Nashville reached the playoffs for a fourth straight year. Only three teams are on a similar streak. But it slumped to its second straight first-round exit despite flirting with the Supporters Shield throughout the season's first half. It didn't score a goal in 315 minutes to close out the season.
Not even Mukhtar, who scored just two league goals after June 17, was immune. Nashville rejected a Qatari club's $7 million offer for him last summer, and Smith theorized after the playoff exit that the episode rattled him . Mukhtar's guaranteed compensation of $3.19 million makes him just the 17th-highest paid player in MLS, despite him having won MVP in 2022. His contract expires after 2025 with an option for 2026, and he has reportedly sought a new one . At some point, Nashville will need to make a firm decision on his future. Zimmerman's contract is up after 2025, too.
Nashville's more immediate need, though, is a new offensive approach, one that isn't quite as reliant on one player. In January, before the team began its preseason camp in Florida, Smith said his goal was for fans to see the attack and immediately notice the difference from last season. While only one of Nashville's five preseason games was open to fans, early returns have been positive . Nashville scored nine goals, which came from seven players, and showed life with a more aggressive press.
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"A little bit more fresh on the attack going forward," Shaffelburg said. "We're having a bit more fun. We're getting after it more. We're excited. We have a lot going for us."
Nashville's offseason moves — made mostly on the margins while keeping the nucleus intact — reflect that belief. The roster is slightly younger than that of 2023, when it was the oldest in MLS and appeared worn down toward the end. Boyd is three years younger than the departed Fafa Picault . Newly acquired winger McKinze Gaines is 25. Dax McCarty signed with Atlanta United in free agency, and while replacing his leadership is a mountainous task, Dru Yearwood , 24, gives Nashville an athletic dimension it sometimes lacked in midfield a year ago.
While Nashville opted to extend its window instead of go for a full rebuild, it can't afford to waste time. In addition to Mukhtar's contract situation, key pieces like Zimmerman, goalkeeper Joe Willis , defender Dan Lovitz, and midfielders Anibal Godoy and Sean Davis are all 30 or older.
Nashville SC midfielder Hany Mukhtar (10) moves the ahead of Birmingham Legion FC forward Enzo Martinez (19) during the first half of an MLS preseason soccer match Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn.
All of this is to say that the stakes for Nashville's 2024 season are the highest they've been during the franchise's short time in MLS. What transpires in the next eight or nine months will set the tone for Nashville's long-term future.
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Gaines played for Austin FC during its inaugural season in 2021 before joining another first-year club, Charlotte FC, in 2022. Few players in MLS understand the dynamics of new clubs better than he does. To him, Nashville's success since it entered the league in 2020 sets it apart from Austin and Charlotte. There are more building blocks there. Gaines has had only two months with his new team, but he's perceptive to that already.
"In Charlotte last season, we wanted to reach the playoffs, and we ultimately reached that goal, which was huge for us," Gaines said. "Nashville is past that point in its life span."
MORE: Nashville SC vs. Moca FC in CONCACAF Champions Cup: Here's our Game 1 score prediction
MORE: 5 things we learned from Nashville SC's preseason games
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Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC: What's at stake heading into 2024 MLS season
