Under-the-radar Nashville SC hope to hit the ground running in first year

Nashville SC may not have the flash of their expansion partners in Miami, but they’re hoping to avoid the pitfalls of past MLS debutantes by building a stout spine.

Until recently, the imminent arrival of Nashville SC had barely registered on the wider Major League Soccer radar ahead of the 2020 season, the Tennessee franchise’s expansion campaign in the top flight.

A very public wrangle between Don Garber and the city mayor over the construction of the club’s new stadium changed that for better or worse, but still, the addition of Nashville SC as the division’s latest team along with Inter Miami has become something of a footnote to the broader soccer world.

That Nashville SC are entering MLS at the same time as Inter Miami, the glitzy South Floridian franchise owned by David Beckham and plagued with problems for years before their launch, hasn’t helped their cause.

While Inter Miami have signed Rodolfo Pizarro, Liga MX’s headline act and an El Tri regular, and hired Diego Alonso, a two-time CONCACAF Champions League winner, as their head coach, Nashville SC have done their shopping at a much lower level, signing MLS veterans like Dax McCarty and Anibal Godoy.

Expectations for MLS expansion franchises have never been higher. While it was once a given that new teams would initially struggle in MLS, the astonishing instant success of Atlanta United and Los Angeles FC has changed that. Nashville SC, a franchise without the money or resources to make such an immediate impression, could become victims of those raised expectations.

FC Cincinnati bore the brunt of the new zeitgeist last year, winning just six games in their expansion season. While Atlanta United and LAFC have set the standard, FC Cincinnati have become a cautionary tale. It’s difficult to hit the ground running in MLS and without the right structure and recruitment strategy new teams will fall flat on their face.

Nashville SC have taken a slightly different approach to building their squad. MLS is a top heavy league in the way it prioritizes the signing of top-level attackers above all else in the transfer market. The Tennessee side, however, have instead built from the back. Their approach will not be based on a desire to score, but to stop opponents from scoring instead.

Nashville SC might not have a big name South American striker or Mexican winger, but they have Walker Zimmerman, one of the best center-backs in the division, and a number of MLS veterans to support him. They are counting on defense being the best form of offense.

Part of the problem with this strategy is that Nashville is the sort of place where fans will expect to be entertained. Tennessee might not be as challenging a sports market as South Florida, where Inter Miami are up against it to make an impact, but the state’s new MLS franchise is still charged with putting on a show.

“The thing that’s stood out to me from the beginning is how important culture is, and creating culture,” Zimmerman explained to fans at a recent event, underlining how Nashville SC can make an impression that transcends soccer. “I’m excited to help create that culture, but a lot of it comes down to the fans. The passion’s going to be there.”

It’s true that Nashville could become a soccer hotbed and one of the most exciting locations in the whole league. In Ian Ayre they have a former Liverpool CEO running things. A figure who succeeded in establishing a real connection between the Anfield club and fans and has now been hired to do the same thing in another city synonymous with music.

“This is a community that really was representing the new America that is our brand,” MLS commissioner Garber said at the unveiling of Nashville SC as the league’s latest entrant two years ago. “It’s diverse, it’s inclusive.”

And on the basis of the 40,000 tickets sold for the club’s home opener against Atlanta United this weekend there is a real chance that this could be the start of something special in Tennessee.