Football Season Guide

Nashville SC

In


Fafà Picault (att) Houston; Nick DePuy (def) LA Galaxy; Ben Martino (gk) Philadelphia; Laurence Wyke (def) on free; Tyler Freeman (att) on free; Kemy Amiche (att) on free; Nebiyou Perry (mid) on free; Joey Skinner (def) drafted;

Out


Dave Romney (r) (def) New England; Irakoze Donasiyano (mid) released; Handwalla Bwana (att) released; Ake Loba (sp) (att) Mazatlán FC – on loan; Will Meyer (gk) released; Eric Miller (def) released; Bryan Meredith (gk) released

Despite boasting the third best defence in the West, Nashville paid for their poor home record of just six wins in 17 games in their bid to secure a top-three spot. They finished fifth and lost 1-0 away at LA Galaxy in the first round of the playoffs. In the offseason, Nashville replaced starting centre-back Dave Romney with experienced defender Nick DePuy, who joined from LA Galaxy. They also offloaded several squad players and beefed up their attack by signing solid winger Fafà Picault from Houston Dynamo. MLS reassigned Nashville SC to the Western Conference ahead of the 2023 campaign, with the West regarded by many as stronger than the East this season. Their core remained intact, as they practically have the same roster as last year, with a solid Jack Maher being expected to fill Romney’s void in defence. Nashville can brag that they have last season’s MVP in Hany Mukhtar, who recorded as many as 34 goal contributions last season. They also boast one of the best MLS defenders in a solid Walker Zimmerman. However, their main weakness is that they lack depth in attack behind Mukhtar, while forwards C. J. Sapong and Randall Leal were anything but consistent last season.

Target


Nashville aim for a better playoff placement this year and they may have what it takes to push for their first ever conference final.