(Yes I know it is the afternoon).
First things first, a couple mistakes based on tough viewing angles in the pressbox and no names on jerseys: the poor clearance that led to Atlanta’s third goal came off the foot of Michael DeGraffenreidt, not Jordan Dunstan. The bad back-pass that resulted in the first goal was Josh Hughes, not Liam Doyle. Either way, not errors you need to worry about happening consistently.
All supporter sections were good (and some bad)
Very impressive performance from the Roadies and the Assembly on putting together a great gameday experience. The Atlanta groups were a big part of the atmosphere – even if they committed the above-mentioned no-no of away fans popping smoke in stadiums (against both MLS and USL rules).
Hopefully, others around the stadium get hip to a few of the songs, chants, etc. of the supporters’ groups. The other sections outside that end probably won’t be as full for most games – certainly not if the weather is that bad again – but if they buy into the gameday atmosphere standards that the SGs are leading the way with, it should be a benefit overall.
(We’ll get to a potential season-opener at Nissan Stadium at a later point – waiting for club comment on that one).
The first-choice team is going to be a really good USL side
Atlanta had the better of the opportunities in the first half, no doubt. But that’s (by far) the most expensive club in MLS, and the Boys in Gold more than held their own. I doubt we’ll see advanced stats of a preseason friendly in a USL stadium (or a minor league baseball stadium, if we’re expressing max cynicism), but the expected goals for the teams was probably something like 1.2-0.4 in favor of Atlanta – that is to say, not half-bad.
Given that some of the newer arrivals are going to be first-team regulars (including the duo who paired up for the first goal in NSC pro history, Alan Winn and Ropapa Mensah), and it’s easy to see how, with another month of training, this group will jell into a very, very good one.
The depth… needs a bit more work
I think switching sides of the field probably hurt Nashville more than expected, given that a bad back-pass led directly to one of the goals, but the second-choice defenders need to develop their chemistry a bit, and get comfortable in the four-man backline that was a surprising changeup (more on that in a moment).
The offensive personnel, particularly through the midfield (I count CDM Josh Hughes, who made the back-pass, a defensive guy primarily), also needs a bit of work in getting the ball turned upfield and progressing through the midfield with clean passes. That’s another area where the conditions play a role of course. There’s something to be said for the lone goal being a long-ball lumped forward (with outstanding accuracy) for a strike to head on to a winger for the finish.
The tactics had some surprises
All we’d previously seen of this defense was a 5-3-2 (Gary Smith called it a 3-5-2, but the terminology is basically interchangeable, just depends on how you describe the wingbacks), and at halftime, where was a switch to a four-man backline, with a bit of 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 principles both at play. Was that just a change-up to see if NSC can switch to it when the opponent’s tactics require it? Does it simply play better to the strengths of the second-choice personnel? We will have to see.
The team certainly looked far more comfortable in the 5-3-2, and presumably they’ve worked it more in the two weeks of practice to date. Some of that could also be simple inexperience by the youngsters as well, though, rather than discomfort with the formation.
Three more friendlies in the next couple weeks (two of them publicly viewable on Youtube, one closed-door) against equal or better competition should help us get a better picture of what the long-term tactics are going to be.
Some potential position battles on the way
Some substitutes are going to be more based on formation and tactics (see above), but there are still a couple spots that we should see continued mixing up before a starting XI is fully settled as the game-in, game-out first choice group.
Left back had a bit of a surprise starter, for example (Ryan James over Taylor Washington), there are a few pretty good players up top who might have an argument for starting roles when they’ve been fully integrated into training (Ropapa Mensah and Alan Winn combined for NSC’s goal despite being about a week behind their teammates in terms of practice with the squad), and of course, simple development could see some dark horses emerge.
I’ll get into more depth with this later in the week, because it’s definitely going to be an area with twists and turns leading into (and during) USL play.
Club and Country 