We’re keepin’ it friendly so far, with Nashville SC’s second preseason game of the year upon us. The Boys in Gold will take on their second MLS opponent of February with a mach against the Chicago Fire in lovely Bradenton, Fla.
The Essentials
Opponent: Chicago Fire (16-11-7 MLS, First round MLS Playoffs, Round of 16 US Open Cup 2017)
The Line: No line, this is a friendly, you degenerates
Time, Location: 4:00 p.m. EST (3 p.m. Nashville) • IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.
Event: IMG Suncoast Pro Classic (preseason friendly).
Weather: 83° F, 1% chance of rain, 8 MPH Southeasterly winds.
Watch: Closed to the public. You can stream online at IMG’s Youtube Channel. Roadies watch party at Pastime.
Etc.: Lookin’ at the remainder of NSC preseason. Q&A with Hot Time in Old Town.
Elsewhere: Fire’s official training camp update. Two player interviews and training video from the Fire’s official site. Hot Time in Old Town recaps the 2-1 loss to Montreal Impact.
The Men in Red
The Fire has actually played three preseason friendlies so far, and therefore it’s a little easier to suss out a depth chart (at least from the three games they’ve played: two MLS opponents and a college side, not necessarily what they’ll be doing in the regular season or in this one). The Florida Gulf Coast win saw a full second-unit lineup whereas the MLS opponents – a 2-1 loss to Montreal Impact and scoreless draw against Philadelphia Union – saw just a few changes to what is likely a first-choice squad with some position battles.
Richard Sanchez is established as the first-choice keeper with Stefan Cleveland No. 2 there. Sanchez was the team’s No. 3 last year (Matt Lampson was traded to Minnesota United and Jorge Bava was cut), though in his limited time he had pretty good performances.
Brandon Vincent, Rafael Ramos, and Johan Kappelhof are the first-team defenders in a 4-4-2 (or 4-5-1 at times), with the final spot up for grabs. Christian Dean and Grant Lillard have battled for playing time at the second centerback spot. Both are youngish, biggish guys who have a lot of potential. Vincent’s entire MLS career to date has been with the fire, Ramos was a part-time starter for Orlando City over the past three years (including a bit of time with the USL B-team), while Kappelhof enters his third year as a starter for the Fire and at 27 is the elder statesman of the group. He began his pro career with Groningen of the Dutch Eredivisie.
US Men’s National Team… regular, I guess? Dax McCarty is the captain for this team in his second year (after coming over from New York Red Bulls). He plays primarily as a deep-sitting central defensive midfielder. Brandt Bronico has started both MLS-opponent preseason games in his second professional year, though he got just four appearances with the Fire in 2017 and eight on loan with the Tulsa Roughnecks (Chicago’s USL affiliate). The remaining midfield spots have seen rotation between a number of trialists, youth players, and unsigned draft picks, likely meaning that there’s quite a bit of development to come on the depth chart.
Former Colorado Rapid Josh Gatt (two goals in 20 appearances last year), draft picks Diego Campos (who assisted on a McCarty goal against Montreal) and Elliott Collier, and returning player Mo Adams have picked up the majority of the other first-team minutes in the midfield.
Nemanja Nikolić was one of MLS’s leading scorers last year and the lone Best XI pick from the Fire. He will be a star again this year barring a major drop in form, so hopefully we’ll get to see him (rather than the Fire holding him back to get some rest before the regular season, given that he’s a known commodity). Jon Bakero and Brandt Bronico have played a more of deep-sitting second strikers or a false ten (Bronico has started both MLS games at midfield and come back on well after halftime – yay, unlimited substitution! – as the second forward), while Albert Ruiz is a more traditional forward. Ruiz is just a trialist, so I would bet on seeing plenty of him, even over Nikolić, so the club can make a final decision on whether to sign him.
Of note, Bastian Schwiensteiger – former Germany captain and longtime Bayern Munich star – has not played in any of the preseason games. One must assume the Fire know what they’ll get out of him in the final year of his professional career.
The Boys in Gold
What will the lineup look like? I think we’ll see a starting-type squad on the field, at least to begin the game, and a bit less substitution than we saw against Atlanta United, so the players can get a little more used to going a full 90.
That means a 5-3-2 (or 3-5-2) with likely the same backline and midfield we saw against the Five Stripes, with the main question marks revolving around what will happen up top. Does Ropapa Mensah’s additional time practicing with the team give him the comfort to get the first-team nod? If so, whom does he bump out of the lineup?
While there won’t be a wholesale line change at halftime as I mentioned above, there could still be some fairly liberal substituting with other first-team regulars (or guys trying to challenge for that distinction) getting significant minutes. There’s not the depth at centerback, for example, to replace all three starters, but Liam Doyle probably deserves a few minutes. So too with Taylor Washington at left back – and it might make sense to flip Ryan James to RB, where he’s the top backup in addition to starting at LB against Atlanta, instead of leaving Kosuke Kimura on the field for the full 90. There’s plenty of depth up front, and cycling through some of those bodies is probably a good idea.
Will NSC play the game to win? I think so. That’s not to say they’re going to go out and bust their humps to get the deciding goal (or tying goal, or whatever) if it comes down to it, but this is one of the contests remaining in preseason that they’ll want to test themselves against good competition. They’ll probably substitute more liberally (or play more depth from the beginning) against Ottawa, Lipscomb, and Chattanooga than they will against Chicago, Orlando City, or Cincinnati.
Projected Lineups
Obviously subject to plenty of change, and simply my guess based on the available evidence to date:
Predictions
I think the Fire – which is playing its last game before heading home – will have a very different motivation than Nashville SC will. The Boys in Gold not only want to make a little bit of a statement against an MLS team, they also want to make sure their First XI lineup is working its fitness up toward playing a full 90, and they also probably plan to trot out a bit more depth a couple days later against Ottawa (not only meaning the starters don’t have to be ready for that game, but also that there’s no reason to wear out the guys on the second team).
Because of those reasons, and the simple fact that NSC is starting as a pretty good USL side in the first place, this should be a very competitive match. We’ll see (closer to) game-like substitution patterns from Nashville, with the ongoing position battles – left wingback, the rotation at forward – and potentially a formation change to get Alan Winn on the field in a more natural role (he’s too offense-minded to be a wingback in the five-man backline, but seems a best fit on the edge) the primary changes we’ll see.
- The second and third goals in NSC history will be scored… but the total number of goal-scorers in Gold will only rise to two (i.e. either Mensah scores one or a different player scores both).
- Bastian Schweinsteiger gets his first preseason action for Chicago, but it’s very limited, a final 20 minute or so substitution appearance just to sharpen him up and build some fitness.
- NSC’s subs are: Cochran for Pickens, Cox for Mensah, Hume for Shroot (HT), Washington for Kimura (HT – James flips to RB), Winn for Moloto, DeGraffenreidt for James (60′).
- Nikolić and Campos (FK) score for the Fire.
The match ends in a 2-2 draw. Nashville SC gets some good work, and prepares for a lower-pressure friendly against Ottawa a couple days later.
Club and Country 