Nashville SC’s New Identity Under BJ Callaghan Tactics 2024: Shift To High Pressing

Coming into 2024, Nashville SC had a perfect record of reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs in their four full seasons to date as a franchise.

However, with only weeks left in the regular season, the record seems likely to be shattered, with Nashville currently being one of the worst sides in the entire league.

Having ended last year on a downhill slide following a brilliant League Cup campaign in the summer, when they reached the final, Nashville have been unable to stop the rot this term and has not looked like a playoff team all year long.

This led to them cutting ties with inaugural manager Gary Smith back in May.

Having taken their time in appointing his successor, they finally managed to find one in former US Mens National Team interim coach and assistant BJ Callaghan.

Callaghan is taking on his first permanent head coaching role following his brief interim spell with the USMNT, with whom he remained unbeaten and won the CONCACAF Nations League title.

But with no prior experience in this role, it was a gamble for the Nashville board to hire him to try and turn things around in such a difficult season.

But since his arrival, theres been an improvement of sorts that has kept Nashvilles faint hopes of reaching the post-season again alive going into the final weeks of the season.

This tactical analysis will provide an in-depth analysis of the most noticeable changes BJ Callaghans tactics have brought to Nashville SCs style of play and what those changes could mean for the club in the immediate future.

Nashville SC Defensive Phase: Shift To High Pressing

Nashvilles biggest problem prior to Callaghans appointment was putting the ball in the back of the net.

They did so the least of all MLS teams, with just 26 goals in the first 25 rounds of the season.

However, the biggest immediate change under Callaghan didnt come in improving their strike rate.

It was the way BJ Callaghans formation changed that caused Nashville SC to start defending higher up the field, looking to pressure opponents and win back possession closer to the oppositions goal.

Under Gary Smiths coaching style, Nashville had developed a reputation for being an organized defensive unit that was tough to crack and relied on its standout attacking individuals to produce the goods on the other end.

However, as they struggled to consistently produce offensive results in this way, it was clear that a change of approach to their attack was needed.

Callaghan was brought in to do this, starting by shifting the teams mindset from looking to sit deep and defend to becoming braver and trying to actively participate in the game by pushing bodies forward both on and off the ball.

The data viz above captures the results of this change under BJ Callaghans coaching style.

As we can see, in the final weeks before the League Cup break and Callaghans subsequent arrival, Nashville enjoyed much more success recovering the ball in more advanced areas of the pitch than in the period since.

The data above captures the last six league games before Callaghan and the first