New York Red Bulls v Nashville SC: Callaghan calls for calm on identity crisis

Nashville SC head coach BJ Callaghan insisted it would take time for his players to build an identity after their goalless draw with the New England Revolution.

Callaghan replaced Gary Smith in May last year but was unable to help the club into the playoffs as they finished the 2024 campaign in 13th in the Western Conference.

Several players made their Nashville debut in their opening game of the new season, including midfielders Eddi Tagseth, Matthew Corcoran, Wyatt Meyer and Ahmed Qasem, as well as right back Andy Najar.

But Callaghan made it clear that the newness of the roster – and to some extent the system – will not be used as an excuse for poor results.

“We’re not going to rationalise or justify why we didn’t get the [win] or say it’s okay we didn’t get the result,” Callaghan said. “We understand the business that we’re in. We understand the commitment to the fans we have and that is to win games.

“Now that doesn’t mean we deviate away from what we want to do or who we want to be. But that won’t creep into our culture. We know that we want three points when we step out on the field.

“It’s going to take time (to develop an identity). It’s always going to be a step-by-step process. I think what we saw (Saturday) was that the team had a committed attitude to doing what we wanted to do, and there were some good ideas.”

Matchday -2
Matchday pic.twitter.com/iMADfxKLrd

— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) February 27, 2025

The New York Red Bulls, meanwhile, kickstarted their campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat to FC Cincinnati despite dominating for large parts of the contest.

They have now won only three of their last 19 regular-season matches (D10 L6), though head coach Sandro Schwarz said there was no hangover from their surprise run to the MLS Cup final last year.

“That is okay because we were very successful last year, especially at the end of the year and our playoff run, so this is normal,” Schwarz said.

“This is what I have said in our meetings. We had great conversations. But the supporters expect quality from our side and to show that we can compete. But at the end, I think it is a new season with new faces, so it is important not to compare them to last season.

“Last week we played well enough to get a result against Cincinnati but in the end we lost. We have the next opportunity and our next big chance in our home opener against Nashville, and we are very excited to come together and put those emotions aside to win.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

NYRB – Eric Choupo-Moting

After joining the Red Bulls from Bayern Munich ahead of the new season, Choupo-Moting will be keen to get his MLS tally up and running after a strong display on debut.

Against Cincinnati, he ended the contest with a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 0.58 from his three shots, while only Omar Valencia (three) created more chances for the Red Bulls in that game than the Cameroon international.

Nashville – Sam Surridge

Having failed to find an attacking spark against New England, Nashville will need last year’s top scorer Surridge back amongst the goals to get their season started.

He scored 15 goals in 32 appearances across all competitions last season, and has two goals in four outings against this weekend’s opponents.

MATCH PREDICTION: NYRB WIN

NYRB are unbeaten in six all-time meetings with Nashville (W2 D4). They are one of two MLS teams the Coyotes have faced more than twice in all competitions and have never beaten (also the San Jose Earthquakes).

But they failed to score in their season-opening match for the third consecutive campaign. The Red Bulls had scored in their season opener in 12 of the previous 13 terms, from 2010 to 2022.

Nashville’s 0-0 draw with New England was the fifth straight season they did not concede in their season-opening match, tied for the longest streak in MLS history (Orlando City -five straight from 2020 to 2024).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

NYRB – 54.9%

Draw – 23.2%

Nashville – 21.9%