Nashville SC aim to break their four-game slump with a positive home outing Saturday night against the Chicago Fire.
Despite a strong start to the season, Nashville (4-4-1, 13 points) has struggled recently. Nashville has won just three points from its last four games, yielding late winners to Cincinnati and Charlotte.
The most recent defeat saw a lethargic Nashville concede three goals to Seattle, which enjoyed most of the game’s chances, momentum and possession.
“We had a focused week of training,” Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan said. “We had the opportunity to evaluate our performance against Seattle, take away some things we needed to learn and apply them during the training week. We’re excited for Chicago and some of the challenges it will present.
“As we continue through the week, we’re addressing those things and getting better. This is part of the growing process we’re going to have as we build who we want to be. Our trajectory isn’t going to be straight up. We know there’ll be moments we learn from and moments we don’t play as consistently as we want to.”
In Chicago (3-3-3, 12 points), Nashville SC find themselves matched with another squad lodged in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings. The coaches also are well-matched; Callaghan worked as an assistant coach for Fire coach Gregg Berhalter with the U.S. men’s national team and even served as an interim manager for some time.
Berhalter’s side is currently on a four-game winless streak. Their loss on April 19, a 3-2 shootout defeat to Cincinnati, showed the team’s struggles with defensive consistency.
However, the team’s fluidity up top makes it one of the most feared attacks in the league. Hugo Cuypers is one off the league lead with six goals in nine matches, while the winger duo of Jonathan Bamba and Philip Zinckernagel gives the Fire even more lethality out wide.
“He would say the same thing: It’s not B.J. vs. Gregg or Gregg vs. B.J., it’s a really good Chicago team against a really good Nashville team,” Callaghan said. “The additions they’ve made are great, the team play has a really good identity, and they have a lot of attacking talent.
“The identity they’ve built also gives them some flexibility and adaptability, so they’re a difficult team to prepare for throughout the week.”
Nashville’s preparations might not include star defender Walker Zimmerman. He suffered a concussion three weeks ago against Charlotte and is questionable to return to action against Chicago.
–Field Level Media
