Mike Jacobs has done a tremendous job as general manager of Nashville SC, leading a team that was an expansion side a season ago into the playoffs.
And now Jacobs, fresh off the signing of forward Aké Loba this week, has a Nashville SC side that is quickly turning from a defensive-oriented club to one with a potentially dangerous attack.
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Last season, Nashville SC allowed just 22 goals in their maiden season in MLS but they began to come together as a unit late in the season. Their identity to that point had been as a tough, somewhat gritty defensive side.
A mid-October match at the Houston Dynamo saw Nashville SC win 3-1, scoring more goals in that match than they had in their previous four matches combined. That was a turning point for the season that has carried over into 2021.
“Our Houston game last year, away on October 14th, that was the first time we had all three of our DPs at that point,” Jacobs told SiriusXM’s ‘Counter Attack’ on Thursday.
“Since that match, the rest of that season, I think we were fourth in goals per game. So, a lot was made about how stingy we were defensively but you guys know as well, the idea of building cohesion, whether it is pattern of play, whether it is how players work with each, the ability to create scoring chances…I think that takes a little more time and by the end of the season, we were clicking on all cylinders.”
The daily SiriusXM show is hosted by Tony Meola and Brian Dunseth and is one of the best listens for American soccer fans. The show features a heavy dose of MLS and United States national team talk.
On Thursday night, Nashville SC settled for a 2-2 result against rival Atlanta United. The draw puts Nashville SC at 4-1-7 (19 points) and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
But Nashville SC has pieced together a fascinating blueprint for expansion clubs as they look to take a step forward in their development. Their only loss of the season was at the New York Red Bulls, a club that given their pressing is a tough opponent stylistically for Nashville SC.
Jacobs, who came to the second-year club ahead of their expansion season in 2020, was previously with Sporting Kansas City. Now in the Eastern Conference, Jacobs said the Western Conference “is more wide open.”
But the Eastern Conference, he said, is a grind for his young club.
“You think about the Eastern Conference, I think it is more physical, the way teams play – it is just different. There is no easy game,” Jacobs said.
“I joked with two years ago – we played a USL team one of our first matches and I said ‘I wouldn’t expect an easy one for a while.’ I just think each of games are a bear. The Eastern Conference games – maybe that is part of the identity of who we are – most of the teams are kind of similar from the standpoint that you have to beat them with a stick to make them submit. It is like one of the old adages that it takes 90 minutes to win a game and one mistake to lose it.”
Follow Kristian Dyer of ‘MLS Multiplex‘ on Twitter @KristianRDyer