Nashville SC have been road warriors throughout the 2022 MLS campaign, playing all eight matches away from home while awaiting the chance to debut GEODIS Park on Sunday against the Philadelphia Union (4 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes).
Head coach Gary Smith's men sit eighth in the Western Conference table and right in the mix for an Audi MLS Cups Playoff spot, knowing 17 of their final 26 matches are at home.
After riding their famously stingy defense to a 3W-3L-2D record these last two months, should the homecoming portend a change in tactics to a more attack-minded approach? As the topic was debated on the latest Extratime episode, co-host Calen Carr said he's not so sure.
"I think that there's a little bit of a danger in coming back home and assuming that everything is just going to go your way," Carr said. "And as much as the duration of the road trip was excellent, I think they're just right outside the playoff line right now, which is, to go through that and still be in that position, is really good.
" … I think if they were to come back at home and be just completely more expansive and open things up, I think that's not going to be a great recipe for success for them. I think they can make some slight modifications. At times they do seem to just attack with very limited numbers, maybe two or three on the break, and I think they need to commit a little bit more, especially getting their fullbacks in more advanced positions, because in the past they've been better at that."
While Nashville's open-play defending has remained solid, their struggles with defending set plays have continued. It's been a vexing topic for several seasons, with US men's national team center back Walker Zimmerman anchoring an otherwise standout unit.
"They also kind of left quite a bit on the table during that road trip, whether it was continuing to concede on set pieces, which has been a thing for them for the longest time now – they've got to figure that out – and then a couple times late in games they've had some problems," Carr said. "But I think that makes sense for me from being tired at the end of these long road trips."
Overall, though, Carr said it's a case of Nashville adhering to the DNA that's defined their journey from a 2020 expansion team until now. And with a Best XI-caliber talent like Hany Mukhtar, they have a match-altering attacking player.
"I would say don't throw out the way you've been able to get results," Carr said. "In some way just bring that same energy you've done on the road to home and hopefully just being at home, you can get on the right side of a couple of those tighter results."
For more from the Extratime crew, check out the full episode here.
